State-owned steelmaker, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), as part of its efforts to own resources and control costs, is in talks with the US government officials to acquire coking coal assets in Virginia. The mineral-rich state of Virginia could become a sustainable source of coking coal for promoter companies of International Coal Ventures (ICVL), the five member Indian consortium that was formed to buy coal assets overseas. SAIL is also a part of the ICVL.
ICVL would receive support from Virginia with requisite geological information and in identifying coking coal assets and mines. Besides exploring opportunities for greenfield locations, the negotiations also include the possibility of facilitating business between ICVL and small and medium mining companies in Virginia by forming joint ventures.
Virginia has state-of-art rail and port infrastructure which is vital for evacuation of minerals. Virginia produces over 24 million tonnes of coal annually and exported over $293 million worth of goods and services to India in 2010.
Recently, SAIL had signed an initial pact with Oman Oil Co to jointly set up a 3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) gas-based steel plant in Oman at an investment of around Rs 15,000 crore. The final agreement with Oman Oil Co was likely to be signed within the next six months, after which, it would take 2-3 years for the plant to be operational.
Company Name | CMP |
---|---|
Tata Steel | 138.95 |
JSW Steel | 913.10 |
SAIL | 115.50 |
Jindal Stainless | 736.20 |
Jindal Saw | 299.55 |
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