The Adani Group is exploring the possibility of acquiring coal assets in Russia and South Africa and plans to buy two more capsize cargo vessels to boost its coal imports.
With coal exports from Russia and South Africa, as also Columbia, to Europe slowly cooling off due to increasing dependence of the Continent on nuclear energy, the Adanis, largest coal importers in India, are looking at these two countries for their next coal assets, an official familiar with the development told Business Line today.
Coal imports
The Group, currently evaluating the logistics and economics of coal imports from Russia and South Africa, is expected to move fast-forward in this respect in the coming financial year.
Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), the flagship company of the Group, has placed an order to import a parcel of nearly 1.5 lakh tonnes of coal from Russia. The company had also imported coal from Columbia recently. The company had acquired two ships, manufactured in the Philippines, in January this year to transport coal from Indonesia and Australia.
Now, the Group is evaluating the possibility of buying two more cargo ships in the next few months, as part of its plans to have a fleet of 20 cargo ships by 2020. Acquisition of these ships would fulfil the missing link of transportation of coal from these countries, where the Adanis have coal mines, to India by the sea route.
In 2009-10, the company imported nearly 30 million tonnes of coal at Mundra.
Capsize vessels
In January, Adani Shipping Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of AEL, took delivery of m.v. Rahi, the first of its two capsize vessels built by South
Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Corporation. The second vessel, m.v. Vanshi, was also delivered shortly, thereafter.
These vessels have a cargo capacity of 1.75 lakh DWT each, and are able to carry cargoes such as coal, iron ore and grain.