JSPL to begin production from Mozambique coal mine by year-end

NEW DELHI: Jindal Steel and Power ( JSPL) plans to begin production from its coal mines in Mozambique by year-end, a development which will ensure supply of inputs for the existing and upcoming projects, a top company official said today.

"We hope to start our coal production in Mozambique by end of this year," JSPL Chairman Naveen Jindal told reporters here.

He added that the company would source coal from the Mozambique mine to feed its projects here in the country.

"We will be sourcing coal from Mozambique to India (to feed our plants)," Jindal said.

The Mozambique mine is strategically important for the Naveen Jindal-led firm as it contains both coking and thermal coal.

The company, which has plans to produce 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) coal from the mine at peak level, is also looking to set up a 2,640 MW thermal power plant in the African nation.

The company has earlier said that it is also planning to set up a coal washery in Mozambique by the fiscal-end, to reduce the high ash content at the mine there.

JSPL, which currently has a steel making capacity of 3 million tonnes per year (MTPA) and power generation capacity of nearly 2,500 MW, is aiming at having 20 MTPA steel making capacity by 2020 and power generation capacity of over 21,000 MW (together with its subsidiary Jindal Power).

Recently, it had acquired Canada's CIC Energy, which has 2.6 billion tonne of high quality thermal coal mines in Botswana, for over Rs 600 crore as part of its aim to ensure fuel security.

Besides Mozambique and Botswana, the company also has coal mines in Australia, Indonesia and South Africa.