Mittal, Tata eye 18 CIL underground mines

Keen to join hands with Coal India

NEW DELHI: World’s leading steelmakers including Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal and India’s Tata Steel are learnt to have shown interest in mining coal in collaboration with Coal India Ltd from the latter’s 18 abandoned underground mines with an eye on securing reserves of coking coal — a key input needed to make steel.

Steelmakers across the globe are scouting for reserves worldwide, as price of coking coal in international market has more than doubled to $300-350 per tonne in less than six months.

In India, however, coal is sold much cheaper than in the international market. As per some official estimates, the difference in prices is as much as between 35% and 200% for various grades of coal.

“The attraction for steel companies in the project is not price of coking coal, but the access to reserve itself, if any of them manage to strike it,” a government official told DNA Money requesting anonymity.

Spokespersons at both, ArcelorMittal and Tata Steel, did not comment.