JSW Energy to continue hunt for coal mines despite setback

Wed, Jun 1 2011. 1:24 PM IST

The stock exchange cheered the development as JSW shares went up as much as 6% to Rs74.25 in a firm Mumbai market


Mumbai: Utility JSW Energy will continue to scout for coal assets abroad though its acquisition of CIC Energy fell through as certain conditions regarding CIC’s mines in Botswana couldn’t be met, a top official said on Wednesday.

The firm will continue its efforts to scout for overseas coal assets to secure fuel for its power projects, chief executive officer L.K. Gupta told ET Now on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Canadian firm CIC Energy Corp had said its C$422 million deal with JSW Energy collapsed as CIC faced problems with its mining license in Botswana.

The stock exchange cheered the development as JSW shares went up as much as 6% to Rs74.25 in a firm Mumbai market.

Indian power utilities are looking to acquire overseas coal assets to fuel their domestic plants as the country aims to rapidly augment capacity to halve its near-14% peak power deficit within two years.

At present JSW Energy, which has 1,730 MW of operational power plants and 1,410 MW of projects under construction, buys 3-4 million tonnes (MT) of coal per annum from spot market, a company official, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters.

“If I look at today, out of 3,100 MW of power (projects)...we have already lignite allocated to us in Rajasthan (1,100 MW). So we need to look at only up to 2,000 MW of power plants where we need fuel tie-ups,” he said

It requires seven metric tonnes of coal for this.

“We are on the lookout to do more backward integration thereby fuel tie-ups will be complete,” he added.

The company had reported subdued earnings in second consecutive quarter in March as higher coal prices had bitten into profit.

The fuel cost for JSW increased to Rs2.53 per unit in fiscal 2011 from Rs1.85 per unit last year, it said in its annual report to the shareholders.

At 12:22 pm JSW shares were trading up 4.5% at Rs73.20 in a steady Mumbai market.
(sourced Reuters)