Mozambique Mining: Indian consortium considers producing gas from coal

Indian consortium International Coal Ventures Ltd (ICVL) is considering the possibility of transforming coal mined in Benga, in the central Mozambican province of Tete, into methanol to feed gas-fired power plants in India, said the Indian Minister for Steel.

Minister Chaudhury Birender Singh told Indian newspaper the Telegraph in Kolkata that the government was considering a proposal to this effect presented by the National Institution for the Transformation of India, known in the country as NITI Aayog.

India has gas-fired power stations with the capacity to produce 25,329 megawatts of electricity, with more than half at a standstill or almost due to lack of fuel.

The proposal put forward by NITI Aayog came after it was found that the shipment of coal mined in Bengo to India had high costs, and it was not yet possible to build a thermal power plant in Mozambique due to the lack of connection to the national grid.

The ICVL consortium is a partnership consisting of five Indian state groups – Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), National Mineral Development Corporation Limited (NMDC), National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) and Coal India Limited (CIL) – which was formed to acquire stakes in mines abroad and ensure the supply of both coking and thermal coal.

In 2014, the consortium paid US$50 million for the Rio Tinto group’s coal assets in Mozambique, with the Benga mine being the only one of those assets in operation. (source: Macauhub)