RIL TO INK JOINT VENTURE WITH COAL INDIA FOR COAL-TO-LIQUID PROJECT AT MAHANADI COALFIELDS

摘要

Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd, which made the country's biggest gas find in 2002 and is setting up the world's largest single-location refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, is eying a joint venture with state-owned monopoly Coal India Ltd for its proposed coal-to-liquid project for synthesising 80,000 barrels a day of oil from black diamond. Industry sources said the top brass of the two sides have already held a round of talks to flag the areas of co-operation towards this end. Reliance has already written to the government, asking for coal acreages that can supply approximately 30 million tonnes a year. Executives of the two firms were not immediately available for comments. Reliance has sought mines with a total reserve of 1,500 million tonnes under the operational area of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd that are mostly opencast mines. Production cost in open-cast system is lower than underground mining. This offsets the higher cost of cleaning inferior Indian coal to levels of 32 percent ash content for use in this project.