CIL seeks to buy into operational foreign coal mines

Coal India Limited (CIL) plans to enter into strategic equity investment and production sharing agreements with the owners of operational coal mines outside of India, rather than the outright acquisition of greenfield coal blocks, as it had previously attempted. CIL had appointed a merchant banker to aid it in identifying assets overseas, with the mandate to target only coking coal and low-ash thermal coal in countries like the US, Colombia, South Africa, Australia and Indonesia.