The Hindu Business Line : Gujarat NRE launches portal for coal trading

Mr G.L. Tandon, former Chairman, Coal India Ltd, flanked by Mr Arun Kumar Jagatramka (left), Chairman, SteelRX Corporation, and Mr Y.P. Suri, CEO, launching the e-trading platform for coal in the Capital on Monday. - Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , Sept. 12

GUJARAT NRE Coke today launched an Internet-based coal trading portal coalrx.com. The company plans to auction one million tonnes of coal through this portal during the current financial year, the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the company, Mr Arun Kumar Jagatramka, told newspersons here.

The company is already running a steel trading portal steelrx.com.

He also said that the company has acquired 5 per cent strategic stake in the Australian coal producing company, Resource Pacific Holdings Ltd, for A$8.1 million (Rs 27.4 crore). This is the third coal mine acquired by the company in Australia, he added.

Resource Pacific owns and operates the Newpac No. 1 Colliery situated in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales and contains one of the largest identified semi-soft coking coal reserves in the region.

According to the agreement between Gujarat NRE and Resource Pacific, the former will lift at least a minimum of 5 million tonnes of coal over the next 10 years, Mr Jagatramka said.

Resource Pacific has a target of producing 4 million tonnes of coal annually following completion of its longwall expansion and Gujarat NRE Coke will begin the purchase of coal in 2006, he said.

The new portal will enable the company to sell coal produced in its Australian mines to small and medium sized non-core sector consumers in India.

The company is also in talks with Coal India Ltd (CIL) for e-auction of coal produced by CIL subsidiaries to non-core sector consumers, he said.

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