Essar eyes Indonesia, Australia resources to meet domestic demand

NEW DELHI: Essar Group is seeking to expand by acquiring more coal and iron ore assets in Indonesia , Australia and Africa to meet domestic Indian needsfor resources ,Chief Executive Officer Prashant Ruia said . “We're looking at investing overseas , including in Indonesia , Australia and Africa to access natural resources ,” Ruia said in a Bloomberg Television interview at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Jakarta . “Coal and iron ore are two major possibilities and , going forward , oil and gas .”

Indian companies , including Essar , Tata Power and Reliance Power , are expanding overseas to meet energy needs to support growth in Asia's second-fastest growing major economy . “We believe that Indonesian coal is a natural fit for India , for power generation in the country , because India is short in power requirements and the import of coal is only going to increase over time ,” Ruia said .

Essar agreed last year to buy the Aries coal mines in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province to secure supplies for its power plants , the Mumbai-based company said March 2010. The areas , which hold as much as 100 million metric tons of power- station coal , may start output within a year , Essar said at the time.