Khanij Bidesh India, (KABIL) a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of Hindustan Copper (HCL), Nalco and Mineral Exploration Corporation (MECL), have sought to rope in Coal India (CIL) and NMDC as partners for its overseas mineral exploration venture.
KABIL at present is looking for Lithium and Cobalt in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, and the process is in the stage of due dillegence. “There are government to government data sharing, project cost and budget estimation going on at this stage. The KABIL board wants CIL and NMDC to be partners, before the mineral exploration goes into the project stage,” a Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) official told FE. KABIL, in which NALCO holds 40% and Hindustan Copper and MECL holds 30% each, has a total paid up capital of 2.50 crore and an authorised share capital of100 crore. The two mining behemoths, CIL and NMDC, joining KABIL would bring in fresh capital, which could expedite the process of overseas mineral exploration and acquisition of assets.
The board of KABIL has already cleared the proposal and the proposal has been sent to the finance ministry for clearance from DIPAM, the official said. Although CIL, when contacted, said it had no knowledge about the development, as a CPSU, it would go by government instructions. HCL CMD Arun Kumar Shukla said KABIL has a mandate to scout for (12) mineral assets overseas, which are either not present in India or has scarce reserves for which it has to be imported. But the SPV formed in 2019 required more cash to expedite both exploration and acquisition, he said.
He, however, didn’t want to comment on the recent decision of KABIL but said “the government was looking into it”.
Earlier, CIL, NTPC, SAIL, NMDC and RINL had formed an SPV, International Coal Ventures (ICVL), to scout for coking coal assets abroad, but CIL and NTPC pulled out of the SPV saying that ICVL’s purposes were not in sync with CIL’s and NTPC’s objectives. ICVL was mainly looking for coking coal assets for steel units.