Mercator Lines, India?s second largest shipping company, which also owns four coal mines, is eyeing a new mine with deposits of about 50 million tonne, a top company official said. It is looking to acquire coal mines in Indonesia and Mozambique and has earmarked an investment of around $100-150 million for this.
The ownership of coal mines helps the company provide integrated services to its clients in the power sector, who use coal as fuel. It owns one such a coal mine in Mozambique and three in Indonesia (all four owned by its subsidiaries).
While the mining activity in the Mozambique coal mine is yet to start and is expected this year, Mercator produces around 2-3 million tonne of coal at its Indonesian mines, which have coal reserves of 21 million tonne. Within a span of three years, Mercator Lines expects to generate 10 million tonnes of coal annually.
The company has lined up a capex of around Rs 2,700 crore ($600 million approximately) for the financial year 2010-11. This will mainly be used for buying tankers and acquiring coal mines, said a senior company official.