Press Trust of India
Mumbai, April 15: In view of rising production of the dry fuel, India plans to completely stop thermal coal imports in 2-3 years that would result in annual savings of Rs 40,000 crore, Union Minister Piyush Goyal Friday said. Coking coal, however, would need to be imported, the Coal and Power Minister said at the maiden Maritime India Summit here.
Record coal production by the world’s largest coal miner CIL, helped India reduce its import bill of the dry fuel by more than Rs 28,000 crore in the last fiscal. “I have no hesitation in saying that Indian companies used to import a lot of thermal coal. We want to completely stop the import of thermal coal in the next two to three years. We have already reduced imports by Rs 28,000 crore. We will save Rs 40,000 crore,” Goyal said. He said his ministry was ready to enter into pacts with Indian shipping companies for import and transportation of coal. “This is the time for Indians to buy ships, to invest in infrastructure. This is the time for Indian shipping companies to own ships. I am happy to do long term contracts with Indian shipping companies to transport our coal. Why don’t we have a long-term contract,” he said. Goyal also proposed setting up a small private equity fund that would be handled by an international fund investor expert.
“We can have some base capital of about $250 million and this fund can provide equity to various organisations undertaking logistics through coastal shipping and inland waterways,” he said. Goyal said if PSUs as well as the ministries of power, coal and others contributed to this, it will give confidence to the private sector to participate in this initiative. “We could also raise about Rs 4,000 crore from international investors,” he said.
