Hyderabad,July 29: The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, on Tuesday said more thermal power units will be set up in the state to tide over the power crisis. Dr Reddy sent a letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, requesting him to ask the coal ministry to consider the proposals of Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation for allocation of coal blocks in the state. This includes the Thadicherla Coal Block No II spread over Karimnagar and Warangal for faster development. The corporation had applied for this coal block in 2005, he said.

Bs Reporter / Bhubaneswar July 30, 2008, 5:44 IST

National Aluminium Co (Nalco), a leading producer of alumina/ aluminium in the country, is facing a major coal shortage.

Currently, the company is running alumina refinery at half its capacity and may be forced to shut down the unit in a few days if the situation does not improve.

The company is incurring a daily cash loss of Rs 2.5 crore due to slashing of production.

Ishita Ayan Dutt / Kolkata July 30, 2008, 0:09 IST

Essar Steel may bid for US-based United Coal Company, joining seven other bidders, including rival JSW Steel, sources close to the development said. However, JSW Steel, India's third largest steel-maker, expects to finalise the deal by August.

BLACK GOLD

# Essar Steel is examining a possible bid and a final decision will emerge soon

# Bidders are scrambling for captive raw material resources because of the soaring prices of coal

Govindraj Ethiraj / Mumbai July 22, 2008, 0:34 IST

Last week, I caught up with the head of a large steel company. "We are losing a few hundred crores every month because of the government's anti-inflationary move to hold steel prices," he told me.

I asked him how demand was doing, particularly from sectors like auto. "We've cut our production of cold rolled steel by almost half," he said, adding that global steel prices were ruling at a premium of roughly 30 per cent to domestic. And there was no way to pass on their own input price increases.

Bloomberg / Mumbai July 18, 2008, 0:05 IST

National Aluminium, which had cut production last month because of coal shortage, plans to import 100,000 metric tonnes of fuel to prevent another disruption at a time when prices of the lightweight metal are record-high.

The company, India's biggest alumina maker, will purchase thermal coal from countries including Indonesia in two months, Chairman C R Pradhan said in an interview. Last month, it bought 30,000 tonnes at an average Rs 8,000 ($186) a tonne, he said.

The Centre has asked the Ministry of Mines to prepare a Techno-Economic Feasibility Report in consultation with the Assam Government to exploit the huge reserves of silica sand reserves at Jiajuri in Nagaon district. Following encouraging exploration reports it has been decided that a glass industry would be set up in the region using the silica sand either by Government of Assam or in joint venture with private participation, sources said.

NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Coal is learnt to have approved the allocation of 23 coking and non-coking coal blocks to leading steel, cement and power producers, including Essar, Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), Grasim, Monnet and Ispat. While four coking coal blocks have been allocated in Madhya Pradesh, the remaining 19 non-coking blocks are in West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, according to official sources here. This was decided at the meeting of the Screening Committee of the Coal Ministry held last week.

PANJIM, JUNE 30

PANJIM, JUNE 30