An official of Coal India Limited (CIL) said Sunday that it wants to export 10 million tonnes of coal to India in the next ten years from its two blocks in Mozambique.
CIL’s director for Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Marinder Khurana told APA in an interview that his company will ask for five more blocks from the government of Mozambique in a strategic bid to meet India’s growing domestic demand-supply gap.
“We have two blocks now and we will ask for five more blocks as our requirement, and we are looking at an output of 10 million tonnes of coal when operations ramp-up in five years and Coal India Ltd intends to invest $400 million in the two coal blocks if exploration comes right”, he said.
“We will export the coal to India through the port of Beira and perhaps after 25 years we can use Nacala port,” he said.
Coal India plans to employ 3000 people in Mozambique on its two blocks and it will also contribute to the construction of infrastructure such as rail road, Khurana said.
Khurana is part of the delegation led by Indian Coal Minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal, who arrived in Mozambique on Sunday for talks with Mozambique for the provision of more coal blocks.
“The Indian delegation is exploring coal mining opportunities in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe,” Jaiswal told APA.
Mozambique has become a major destination for coal-hungry firms across the world.
Source African Press Agency
African News from NetNewsPublisher.com
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