Indian state firms eye $1bn Mozambique deal

An Indian consortium of five state-run companies plans to bid to buy a 59-percent stake in Mozambique-based coal miner Minas de Revuboe for about $1 billion, the Mint newspaper reported on Monday. The consortium, International Coal Ventures Ltd, is looking at acquiring the stake in Minas de Revuboe, which has been put up for sale by Australia's Talbot Group. "Talbot Group's stake is on offer. We are evaluating the opportunity for submitting a non-binding bid," an unnamed executive from the consortium told the newspaper. Besides Australia's Talbot Group, South Korea's POSCO, Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. and the Mozambique government hold stakes in Minas de Revuboe, the report said. The ICVL consortium includes the Steel Authority of India, Coal India, power group NTPC, resources group NMDC and steel maker Rashtriya Ispat Nigam. In January, Mozambique denied India five more coal concessions saying the Asian nation should first develop sites where deals have already been struck. India will grab a slice of Mozambique's 23-billion-tonne coal reserves when mining starts next year under a contract with steel producer and mining group Jindal Steel and Power Limited Mozambique Minerais. However, state-owned Coal India, which is to start initial exploratory work on two blocks in the northwestern Tete province in May, was refused further concessions.