ET reported that Coal India Ltd has zeroed in on two overseas coal assets, one in Australia and the other in Indonesia, for acquisition and expects to begin serious dialogue with the owners soon.

A top CIL official said that "At this moment, we have shortlisted two unlisted coal companies, one in Australia and one in Indonesia. We are awaiting some relaxations from the government to go ahead with serious negotiations.”

The official added that "Names cannot be divulged for obvious reasons, but both have close to five million tonnes of coal. The Indonesian company has several blocks, while the Australian company has one large block.”

The official said there was no major contender for these blocks.

The PSU has put together a war chest of INR 6,000 crore for acquisition of the mines.

The official further said that "The level of stake is yet to be decided, depending on various factors like valuation.”

As per report CIL was likely to take a stake between 30 to 40% in these coal assets.

In this regard, CIL has approached the Finance Ministry and government for relaxation of PSU guidelines stipulating a minimum 12% internal rate of return on investments. It has also sought to sidestep the rule that only the mines of listed companies should be acquired.