It is reported that diversified company Somani Group has set up a joint venture firm with Russian metals to mining major Mechel OAO to cater to the growing demand of coal in the country.

Mr Atul Verma President of Somani Group said the JV, Mechel Somani Carbon will source coal from Mechel mines in Russia and other countries and process it in India to give just in time delivery as per the requirement.

He said that "The JV is for stockyard operations, where we intend to supply coal to needy industries in Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh among others, adding that the new company will also invest over 100 crore to fund its expansion, including creation of infrastructure for the stockyard to be built at Vizag.”

He said when asked about the JV's estimated coal supplies to Indian entities in a year that "We would not like to commit any particular figure. He however added that the joint venture company will be importing 6 to 8 shipments of coal from Mechel mines amounting to about 2,50,000 tonnes in a year.”

Mr Verma said "The idea is to have a stock of about 40,000 tonnes in the stockyard at a given time and this will be supplied to small and medium enterprises, who cannot import coal on their own due to high logistics cost. Our venture will be a just in time delivery of coal for the orders received."

He said that the coal reserves of 267 billion tonnes in India are the fourth largest in the world after the US, Russia and China, although coal production at around 400 million tonnes falls short of the demand by 10% annually.

(Sourced from www.indianexpress.com)