Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday said his ministry was not in favour of overseas coal asset "acquisition" by Coal India Ltd.
The minister said last year India imported 235 million tonnes of coal and the forex outflow was Rs 2.71 lakh crore. "As of now the thinking is, not to acquire assets and only to freeze the order in advance to get coal at a competitive price," Joshi told PTI on the sidelines of the 8th Asian Mining Congress and exhibition here.
He said our intention and goal is clear, "we want domestic coal production." Joshi had already advanced the one billion coal production target of Coal India by two years to FY24. To a question on foreign direct investment in the public sector undertaking coal behemoth, Joshi reiterated that he wants Coal India to continue to be the largest coal-producing company "with" India.
CIL Chairman AK Jha said Coal India was scouting for stakes in coking coal assets only. He said Coal India was also working on Coal Bed Methane tender but it has not been finalised and would seek private participation to harness the asset.
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