India’s JSW Energy Targeting Australian Coal Mines

India's JSW Energy, a subsidiary of the JSW Group, is eyeing possible coal mine acquisitions overseas, including Australia, as part of efforts to maintain operations despite a prevailing domestic coal supply shortage.

In a statement over the weekend, the company said it is looking into coal mine assets in Australia, South Africa, Indonesia and Mozambique.

"We aim to increase fuel security to cover our entire requirement. We have been continuously exploring and evaluating various opportunities in the overseas market," Sajjan Jindal, chairman of JSW Energy, said.

"We are also continuously identifying and developing relationship with coal miners in some large coal exporting countries to ensure procurement of quality thermal coal at competitive rates and longer-term contracts," he added.

At present, the company sources coal from overseas since it does not own any coal mines in India. But it has been recently given a share of the Utkal coal block in Odisha. The company is currently in the process of land acquisition after completing a series of public hearings.

Of the possible acquisition targets, an unidentified source said JSW Energy has not made any concrete offers with any coal miners.

JSW Energy holds a majority stake of 93.27 per cent in the South African Coal Mining Holding.

The company's current generation stands at 2,600 megawatts. It is scheduled to commission another 540 megawatts by end December.

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