Nalco may buy minority stake in Indonesian coal mine

Indian state-owned National Aluminium Company said Monday it may buy a "minority" stake in an Indonesian coal mine to ensure long-term supply of dry fuel to its proposed $ 4 billion project in the South-Asian nation.

"We intend to buy a minority stake in the coal firm with which, in the next four weeks, we will forge the contract for long-term supply of coal for getting around 8-10 million tonnes per annum," Nalco's acting Chairman B L Bagra told PTI.

Nalco is setting up a 0.5 mtpa aluminium smelter and 1,250 MW coal-based captive power plant at East Kalimantan province in Indonesia. It had earlier sought expression of interest (EoI) for 8-10 mtpa coal supply from local miners.

"We had received five EOIs and rejected three on various grounds. The proposals of the remaining two will be reviewed in the next Board meeting. Buying stake may happen in any of these two," he said.

However, he declined to reveal the identities of the mining firms. (*)