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Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) is poised to take up an underground expansion plan at one its two coking coalmines in Australia.
JSPL’s step-down subsidiary, Wollongong Coal Ltd (WCL), has received nod from Australia's New South Wales State for the expansion.
Jasbir Singh, Chairman and CEO of WCL, told BusinessLine that the company had sought expansion of the profitable mine to 3 million tonnes (mt) a year from the current capacity of 1 mt. The New South Wales Government has asked an empowered committee to give the permission by March next year.
Singh said a significant portion of the funding for the expansion would come from the JSPL group. He, however, did not disclose the quantum of investment requirement as also the timeframe. “We have not disclosed these to the Australian Stock Exchange (where the company’s stock is listed). As of now, we can say it would be a major investment.”
Deeper mine Russell Vale produced 49,867 tonnes of coking coal in July-September quarter, up by 31.6 per cent from 37,885 tonnes in April-June. WCL in July had stopped operation at its other mine, Wongawilli, as it had become uneconomic.
In the first half of this financial year, WCL made a net loss of Australian $62.6 million.
Singh said the company had already been allowed to deepen one section of the Russel Vale mine by 365 metres to keep the mine operating. WCL has invested around A$ 400 million ($325 million).
“We will put the deepened part of the mine in operation in January,” the WCL CEO said. JSPL took over the management of WLC this year through share purchases including rights issues. Originally promoted by the Gujarat NRE Coke group, WLC raised A$53.74 million recently through rights issue to pare debt.
Stake raised JSPL’s stake in WLC has now increased to 82.04 per cent from 74.39 per cent.
Once it reaches 90 per cent, JSPL can buy out the other shareholders under Australian regulations. ICICI Bank currently holds some 8.45 per cent in WCL.
On Friday, JSPL’s stock gained 2.3 per cent to ₹149.20 on BSE.
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