Coal India to set up 600 MW solar plants in four states
State-run mining major Coal India will develop solar power plants of 600 MW capacity in four states, including West Bengal and Maharashtra, under the second phase of its plan to set up a total 1,000 MW green energy plants.
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has already floated tenders for development of solar capacity in the second phase.
Coal India has signed an agreement with SECI for setting up of solar power plants of total 1000 MW capacity in different parts of the country.
"In the first phase, CILBSE -1.64 % is going to set up 2x100 MW solar power plants in the state of Madhya Pradesh. In the second phase CIL is going to develop a capacity of 600 MW in the solar parks of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Maharashtra for which NIT has already been floated by SECI," the coal major said in its annual report.
To promote green initiatives of the government, CIL has submitted Green Energy Commitment letter to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for developing 1000 MW solar power projects during 2014-19, it said.
JSW Energy scouts for coal, thermal power assets overseas
In the past two years, the company has agreed to buy four power assets in India
The Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Energy is likely to continue with an acquisition spree abroad, as it scouts for coal andthermal power assets, a company official said.
The company, which in the past two years has agreed to buy four power assets in India, is also on the lookout for coal mines abroad to replace some of its current imported requirements.
“Looking at assets outside India certainly interests us; we are not averse to acquisitions outside. We have not come across many exciting opportunities. Africa is an upcoming market, but we have to be very careful of the country risks and political risks,” said Sanjay Sagar, joint managing director and chief executive officer.
JSW Energy, which operates 4,531 Mw in India, does not have any exposure to power assets abroad.
In the past decade, it has stayed away from making big investments in coal assets abroad. The bull-run for commodity prices in 2011 saw peers like Tata Power and Adani Group invest heavily in coal mine assets abroad.
The company is keen to integrate backwards with overseas coal mines. In July, it agreed to acquire 100 per cent stake in Minerals & Energy Swaziland for $1.5 million in Africa.
Sagar further said, coal mine acquisitions would depend on the exploration of this one. “We are hoping to find coal there. If it has sufficient quantity, then we might not need to look at any other asset.” On the quantity of coal, Sagar did not give an estimate, but said the mine would be viable at 150 million tonnes and above.
JSW Energy currently holds a 67.27 per cent stake in South African Coal Mining Holdings. The mines, as of March, were under care and maintenance pending receipt of requisite licenses in the new mining area.
The company has entered into definitive agreements to acquire an additional 1,500 Mw of operating coal-based thermal power plants in India. Of its total capacity, Sagar added, about 2,000 Mw is fuelled using imported coal.
Through these acquisitions, the company looks to meet some of its requirement through backward integration. “It is a pure backward integration play. We are not looking to enter the coal trading business,” said Sagar.
“The company’s debt-equity ratio is comfortable for acquisitions. Whether a bet is good or not depends on the geography they choose these assets. For coal mines, it is a good decision to acquire in the long run. These acquisitions did not work for Tata Power and the others earlier due to change in policies in Indonesia and unavailability of fuel-pass in India. However, India is now moving towards fixed-cost bidding for power purchase agreements, so it may be a good decision for JSW to look to acquire coal mines now,” said Anuj Upadhyay, analyst with Emkay Global Financial Services.
Strike evokes mixed response
The nation-wide strike called by trade unions on Friday had a partial impact. While normal life was paralysed in Left-ruled states such as Tripura and Kerala, metro cities such as Delhi and Mumbai remained unaffected. In West Bengal, too, public utility services remained shut.
The strike was to press the 12-point charter demands by trade unions including increase of minimum wage to Rs 18,000 a month.
The government said sectors such as railways, civil aviation and major ports remained unaffected, while banking and insurance, coal, telecom and defence production were partially affected and transport and steel saw only marginal impact.
Clearing operations at the Reserve Bank of India were hit with trade union leaders claiming cheques totalling Rs 19,000 crore were held up as the staff did not report for duty.
“Clearing services have been impacted. Financial instrument worth Rs 19,000 crore has been held up,” said C H Venkatachalam, general secretary, All-India Bank Employees Association.
State-run mining behemoth Coal India was affected by the strike, with production being down by 40 per cent, mostly in Odisha. Out of 430 operational mines of Coal India, 120 remained closed, with the overall attendance falling short by 10 per cent till 4 pm. “Although our major mines under SECL(South Eastern Coalfields) are working, MCL (Mahanadi Coalfields) has been impacted, which will result in the day’s production falling short by 40 per cent,” a Coal India official said.
Another union, Indian National Mineworkers Federation, claimed 80 per cent of the workers participated in the strike and coal “despatches have been adversely affected”.
“Morchas and rallies were organised in different coalfields in support of the strike and in this strike, outsourced workers also participated as their minimum wages rise of Rs 600 per day has not been agreed upon by the government,” said the union’s secretary-general S Q Zama.
However, coal minister Piyush Goyal said the workmen rejected the strike call thanks to “the pro-workers approach of the government and the liberal measures it has taken for their benefit”.
Work was also affected in Vizag Steel Plant, Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels, Hindustan Shipyard, NTPC’s Simhadri Power Plant and Visakhapatnam Port Trust, as well as private industrial units in Visakhapatnam, as many of the workers joined the strike. The steel ministry said the strike did not affect the operations of SAIL.
The strike by central trade unions is estimated to have caused a loss of Rs 16,000-18,000 crore to the country’s economy, industry body Assocham said. “Trade, transport and hotels form a major part of the country’s GDP. The other major component to the GDP and gross value added is the entire package of financial services including banking. Both these key segments have been crippled by the strike,” said D S Rawat, secretary-general, Assocham. AITUC said full strike was observed in big factories like Ashok Leyland, Royal Enfield, Eveready, MRF, foundries around Chennai.
China's Henan to close 62.5 mln T of coal capacity by 2018 -Xinhua
Central China's Henan province will cut annual coal capacity by 62.54 million tonnes and crude steel by 2.4 million tonnes over the 2016-2018 period as part of efforts to tackle nationwide supply gluts in the sectors, Xinhua news agency reported.
China has vowed to bring total coal capacity down by as much as 500 million tonnes in the coming three to five years, and also plans to close 100-150 million tonnes of steel production by the end of 2020 in a bid to prop up prices and curb widespread losses in the two industries.
The Henan provincial government said in an overcapacity "roadmap" that it would work to dispose of "zombie enterprises", promote industry restructuring and "improve the effective supply capability and overall competitiveness of the steel and coal sectors", Xinhua reported at the weekend.
China is estimated to have a coal capacity surplus of around 2 billion tonnes and a steel capacity surplus of 300 million tonnes.
Henan province produced 135.5 million tonnes of coal in 2015, down 8 percent on the year and accounting for 3.7 percent of the country's total output.
Provincial steel output reached 28.97 million tonnes, up 0.5 percent on the year and amounting to 3.6 percent of the national total.
Warm Regards
Anurag Singal
Sr. Manager-Business Development
EMIL, Aditya Birla Group
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