Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 04, 2007
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Wednesday, Jul 04, 2007 ePaper |
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P. S. Suryanarayana
SINGAPORE: India is exploring the possibility of setting up joint ventures and acquiring exclusive rights to mine coking coal in Australia. Indicating this, Union Minister for Steel, Chemicals and Fertilizers Ram Vilas Paswan said here on Monday that Australia “has welcomed this proposal.” Mr. Paswan, in Singapore on transit after an official visit to Australia, said a consortium of some Indian public sector units (PSUs) was now being formed to channel investments abroad for ensuring a steady supply of coking coal. India was procuring about 15 million tonnes of this strategic raw material from Australia annually, and the current projection was that the quantum would double in the next three years. India’s total annual import of coking coal from various sources was now of the order of 20 million tonnes. ‘Primary stage’
Asked whether the plan was to have Indian companies enter the Australian coking coal market as independent corporate players, in addition to being equity participants in joint ventures, Mr. Paswan said this aspect of the proposal was still at “a primary stage.” He said “we wanted to probe whether they [the Australians] are ready or not.” It might be possible to “tie up some investment in Australia shortly.” Indian PSUs “are also open to the idea of owning iron ore mines abroad – in Australia.” Australian Minister of Industry, Tourism, and Resources Ian McFarlane was willing to help place Indian venture on the “fast track,” Mr. Paswan said. Canberra was also supportive of the possibility of Indian fertilizer firms drawing liquefied natural gas from the Australian market. Discussions
They agreed that discussions could be held on how best India could access Australian nickel, ferro manganese, and silico manganese. Australia, for its part, evinced keen interest to enter the Indian mineral scene as an investor.
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