September 3: Method to replace the current practice of allocating blocks on official discretion; aim to introduce more objectivity in the process.

September 3: A consortium led by Tata Power, India's largest private power utility, will develop a 240 MW geothermal power project in Indonesia. Since the programme would involve building units of various sizes, the total cost of the project will range from Rs 2900 crore to Rs 3800 crore, according to a senior company executive.

September 2: The US-based energy major AES Corporation has evinced interest in setting up a thermal power plant in Bihar, bringing good news to power crisis-plagued state after majority of thermal power units fell on the Jharkhand side after the bifurcation in November 2000.

September 2: A third partner is likely to join NTPC and Bharat Forge in their joint venture for manufacturing power equipment.

September 2: Laying the foundation stone of a Rs 6000 crore power equipment manufacturing plant, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the nation needs to bridge the gap between demand and supply of electricity for sustained economic growth.

September 1: Power equipment makers such as L&T, Bhel, Bharat Forge are lobbying for a higher import duty to thwart cheap Chinese imports that are being increasingly used in mega power projects and affecting expansion plans and the profitability of Indian firms.

September 1: The world's largest coal producer Coal India Ltd (CIL) said it may consider setting up power plants in the country to utilise excess coal.

September 1: State-owned National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has invited bids from coal companies in Indonesia to mine its coking coal mines in East Kalimantan province, which have an annual capacity of 10 million tons, by 2014.

September 1: The Asian Development Bank on August 31 said that it will provide $100 million loan for a cross-border electricity initiative between India and Bangladesh, which is expected to provide impetus for increased power trading in the South Asian region.

August 31: State-run NTPC is considering a 'strategic' tie-up with Qatar Petroleum and picking up stakes in two coal mines in Indonesia to secure fuel supply for its power plants.

August 31: State-run NTPC today said it may join hands with Bangladesh Power Development Board to establish two thermal power projects at Chittagong and Khulna for mitigating the power shortages in the neighbouring nation.

August 30, 2010: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is looking forward to add another 8140 megawatt (MW) power by 2015, through its proposed power plants in Madhya Pradesh. The public sector power biggie already has its largest plant Vindhyachal, with 3260 MW thermal power project, in Singrauli in the state.

August 30, 2010: India's Power Grid Corporation is among the three firms shortlisted by the Nigerian Government to manage the country's electricity grid to be constructed at a cost of $3.5 billion.

August 30, 2010: Public sector mining firms NMDC and Coal India are forming a joint venture with West Bengal Mineral Development and Trading Company to acquire one of the largest coal blocks in the country having reserves of around 19 billion tons.

August 30, 2010: The government is planning to put in place a more transparent mining policy by designating parts of mineral-rich regions as out of bounds for industry because of environmental concerns, a move that can avoid episodes such as the recent ban on mining at Niyamgiri in Orissa but could hurt expansion plans of companies located in such areas.

August 27, 2010: Reliance Power (R-Power) has received a loan guarantee of $900 million from the US Export-Import Bank to buy equipment for its coal-fired power plant at Sasan in Madhya Pradesh.

August 27, 2010: After being cornered by the Opposition over the multi-crore coal distribution scam, the Orissa government has put in place a state specific 'Coal Distribution Policy'.

August 26, 2010: Adani Enterprises announced a $1.65-bn deal with the Indonesian government and its mining company PT Bukit Asam for setting up rail and port infrastructure in the island nation for sourcing coal to India.

August 26, 2010: The Punjab Government today gave its nod to the Sterlite Energy Ltd (SEL) to add one more unit of 660 MW to the upcoming thermal project of 1980 (3 x 660) MW at Talwandi Sabo in Mansa district.

August 26, 2010: The apex planning body for power sector will carry out a fresh survey of power plants that have captive coal mines as it looks to ensure that environment disputes did not derail projects which have made substantial progress.

August 24, 2010: Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that NTPC would be duly compensated for the cancellation of its 600 mw hydro-power project at Loharinag Pala in Uttarakhand.

August 24, 2010: Monnet Power, a subsidiary of steel-maker Monnet Ispat today said it has tied up funds for its 1050 mw power project at Angul in Orissa.

August 24, 2010: Instead of going out and hunting for coal assets, the country's largest power producer, NTPC, has decided to invite offers from foreign miners that may be on the lookout for strategic investors.

August 23, 2010: Union Coal Minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal, said that Coal India Limited (CIL) would launch roadshows in India and abroad next month for the company's Initial Public Offer (IPO) in October 2010.

August 23, 2010: The government's move to levy duty on import of power equipment by scrapping mega power policy may also lead to 10% duty on manufacturing of local power parts. Under the rules for mega power projects, thermal projects of 1000 mw and more and hydel plants of more than 500 mw are exempt from excise and Customs duty. Non-mega power projects are, however, subject to 5% excise and Customs levy.

August 20, 2010: Platts, the energy and metals information provider plans to provide daily spot prices and freight rates for thermal coal bound for India from South Africa, from September 1.

August 20, 2010: The consortium of BEML, Coal India Ltd and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is understood to have reached at a settlement over the equity structure of the joint venture company that will run the Durgapur-based Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC).

August 20, 2010: A joint venture between the Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu governments for a pit-head power project, has been allotted the biggest coal block yet given for a project to be competitively bid.

August 20, 2010: Gurgaon-based infrastructure company Lanco Infratech has partnered with Indonesian coal mining company Bukit Asam to bid for a 600 megawatt power project, sources said.

August 19, 2010: Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) have approved financial support of Rs 9506 crore to part-fund Andhra Pradesh Generation Corporation (AP Genco) thermal project coming up at Vodarevu and a gas-based project at Karimnagar respectively.

August 19, 2010: The power ministry will soon approach the Cabinet to do away with the 15% price preference to domestic manufacturers, under the mega power policy. This proposal will primarily affect state-run Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd (BHEL), the largest equipment supplier in the industry.

August 19, 2010: US-based private equity (PE) fund Blackstone has invested $300 million (Rs 1350 crore) in Moser Baer Projects Private Ltd (MBPPL), the unlisted energy business of Delhi-based global technology company Moser Baer India.

August 18, 2010: Coal India Ltd seems to be closing in on acquisition of three coal mines in Australia, Indonesia and the US.

August 18, 2010: NTPC-BHEL Power Projects Pvt Ltd (NBPPL), the joint venture between state-run BHEL and NTPC for making power equipment among others, is likely to rope in a global technology provider and may offer a minority stake, an NTPC official said.

August 17, 2010: Infrastructure company Lanco Infratech today said it has firmed up investment plans of Rs 24,000 crore for becoming a 9300 MW company in the next four years from the current power generation capacity of 2082 MW.

August 16, 2010: Andhra Pradesh has been allocated 254 mw of power from the Neyveli Lignite Corporation's 1,000 mw thermal plant coming up at Tuticorin. This project is being set up by NLC and the Tamil Nadu Power Ltd joint venture.

August 16, 2010: Keen to get gas for its plant, state-run NTPC may offer equity stake to Qatar Petroleum in its gas-based projects, a move that would allow the company an assured supply of fuel for operations.

August 13, 2010: Even as the coal rich Angul district continues to attract the Independent Power Producers, the state owned Orissa Thermal Power Corporation Limited (OPTCL) has scrapped its proposed 1000 mw power project proposed to be set up at Rengali.

August 13, 2010: State-owned BHEL would invest over Rs 500 crore in setting up two power equipment manufacturing plants at Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu and Jagdishpur, Uttar Pradesh, the Lok Sabha was informed on August 12.

August 13, 2010: The controversial Barh, phase-I power project of NTPC in Bihar is set to take off after years of delay. Russian equipment maker Technoprom Exports has finally agreed to complete work on the 1980 mw power plant within 36 months.

August 12, 2010: NTPC Limited recently signed a long-term fuel supply agreement with Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) for supply of coal to NTPC Ramagundam Super Thermal Power Station for 20 years.

August 12, 2010: Leading steel companies SAIL, JSW Steel, JSPL and RINL are in talks to form a joint venture company to buy coal assets abroad, the first such Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative in India for securing the vital steel-making input.

August 11, 2010: The Orissa government on August 10 cleared four new power projects of 1320 MW capacity each, worth about Rs 40,000 crore.

August 11, 2010: Ferro Alloys said on August 10 that it will invest Rs 100 crore in subsidiary Facor Power Ltd to part-finance a Rs 570 crore power project in Orissa. The leading ferro alloys manufacturer will seek shareholders' approval for raising the sum.

August 10, 2010: The first 600 MW unit of Sterlite Energy's 4 X 600 MW power plant, with Independent Power Producer (IPP) status, at Jharsuguda in Orissa is slated to go on stream next week.

August 10, 2010: State-run BHEL today said it has bagged a contract worth Rs 2525 crore from Abhijeet Infra for setting up a 1080 MW thermal power plant (4 x 270 MW) in Jharkhand.

August 10, 2010: Areva T&D India said that it has been awarded a contract worth Rs 110 crore from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), India's main central transmission utility, to set up a 765 KV extra high voltage substation.

August 10, 2010: At a time when there is a raging debate on whether coal or natural gas should be the country's fuel of the future, the chairman of the Rs 27,800 crore, Ahmedabad-based Adani group, Gautam Adani, has opted for imported coal.

August 10, 2010: Reliance Power could commission its 4000 MW Krishnapatnam ultra mega power project eight months ahead of schedule after receiving permission from the regulator to slightly change its project configuration.

August 9, 2010: State-run NTPC, on a massive capacity addition programme, says it would need 270-280 mt of coal annually by the end of the Twelvth Plan (2017). It used 150 mt last year.

August 9, 2010: Even when China is aggressively tapping all possible sources of coal globally, the coal ministry has said that major consumers like steel, power and cement utilities may need to import.

August 9, 2010: The conditions for grant of excise duty exemption for goods supplied to mega power projects have been amended. Now, the project developers, instead of the manufacturers, have been made liable to pay the duty in case they do not ensure that exempted goods are used only in their projects.

August 9, 2010: The 3000 MW NTPC-Kaniha Power plant, the second largest power plant in the country, will be expanded with the addition of another 500 MW unit, the chairman-cum-managing director, NTPC, R.S. Sharma said.

August 3, 2010: The power major NTPC Ltd announced on Monday that it has prepared a long-term corporate plan under which it has set itself a target of having an installed power generating capacity of 1,28,000 MW by the year 2032.

August 3, 2010: Lanco Infratech Ltd plans to lay thrust on power generation and EPC contracts, as the company scales up its installed capacity from 1,400 MW in March 2010 to 4,000 MW by March 2011.

August 3, 2010: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has bagged power equipment orders worth Rs 6,000 crore from the Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) for setting up 2x 800 MW of thermal power plants at Yermarus and Yeramarus in Raichur district, according to the chairman and managing director, BHEL, B.P. Rao.

August 3, 2010: Engineering major Larsen and Toubro said it has secured a Rs 6,500 crore order from Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd -- a Jaiprakash group company -- for a 1,980 MW power plant in Uttar Pradesh.

August 3, 2010: The Gautam Adani-led Rs 30,000-crore Adani Group is set to make the country's largest coal mine acquisition in Australia. The group's Flagship company Adani Enterprise (AEL), the largest coal importer in the private sector, is likely to announce its first mine acquisition in Australia and is firming up plans to commission coal export terminal there.

August 2, 2010: Investment proposals worth nearly Rs 3 lakh crore in Chhattisgarh have come under a cloud following a state government decision to ban inking fresh Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for investment in the mineral-rich state.

July 30, 2010: Lanco Infratech Ltd (LITL) announced that it has bagged a contract from Maharashtra State Power Generation Co Ltd (Mahagenco) for Balance of Plant (BOP) package for three new units of 660 MW, each being set up for Mahagenco's Koradi thermal power plant near Nagpur.

July 28, 2010: DHAKA: In what is being seen as a landmark deal, Bangladesh has signed a 35-year power transmission agreement with India to import 250 megawatt of electricity from late 2012.

July 28, 2010: The government has forfeited a service tax claim of over Rs 2,200 crore on Power Grid Corporation, a move that could facilitate smooth sailing for the proposed stake sale in the country's largest transmission utility.

July 27, 2010: As the cement industry reels under high raw material costs and reduced coal linkages, companies are exploring alternative options such as rubber tyres and rice husk as substitutes for fuel.

July 27, 2010: Sahara India Power Corporation Limited (SIPCL) will invest Rs 8000 crore on its proposed 1320 mw power project at Titlagarh in Bolangir district.

July 26, 2010: Power consumers will soon be offered a 'menu' for electricity tariffs - different charges for different types of usage, as is the case in the telecom sector.

July 22, 2010: The Opposition's tirade against the alleged involvement of two ministers of the Orissa government in the coal scam has picked up steam with the Union minister of state for coal, Sriprakash Jaiswal calling for stringent against the accused in the scam.

July 21, 2010: Tata Steel, the world's seventh largest steel producer, expects coal production from its joint venture project in Mozambique to touch 5.3 million tons (mt) by 2011.

July 20, 2010: NTPC Ltd has said it is starting commercial operations at its second coal-based 490 MW power plant at Uttar Pradesh's Dadri to provide electricity to the Capital for the Commonwealth Games.

July 20, 2010: Consumers of electricity would have to shell out more as the power generation cost across the country is set to rise by 2-3 percent due to the Centre's decision to impose a clean energy cess of Rs 50 per ton on raw coal, lignite and peat, effective July 1.

July 19, 2010: The Uttarakhand government has cancelled the allotment of 56 hydel projects in the state, hours before the matter was to be heard by the High Court on alleged irregularities in the allotment process.

July 19, 2010: L&T Power, which started production yesterday at its Hazira (Gujarat) facility, has become the second domestic boiler, turbine, and generator (BTG) equipment maker after government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL). The company has already bagged 6,500 Mw of orders.

July 19, 2010: Slow progress on a slew of deals signed with companies in 2005.
A number of big projects by independent power producers (IPPs) have been delayed or stalled in Maharashtra due to delays in land acquisition, mainly due to strong opposition from villagers.

July 19, 2010: Indian energy equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals said on Monday it got an order worth Rs 2665 crore ($567 million) for setting up a 1,200 megawatts thermal power plant from Dainik Bhaskar Power Ltd.
Source: Business Standard.

July 19, 2010: Two Senators representing the Wisconsin State in the US have welcomed the Exim Bank's preliminary approval to Reliance's power project in Madhya Pradesh, saying that this will create hundreds of jobs in the United States.

July 19, 2010: The all-party meeting to resolve the impasse in the state assembly over alleged involvement of two ministers in the multi-crore scam in allotment of coal to small scale industries will be held tomorrow afternoon.

July 15, 2010: Gautam Adani's Adani Enterprises is close to acquiring a coal mine for $1 billion in Queensland, Australia from Linc Energy, two independent sources close to the development said. The coal block is expected to have reserves of 7-8 billion tons.

July 12, 2010: PTC India, the nation's largest power trader, was in talks with investors, including Hong Kong-based SAIF Partners, on selling a stake in unit PTC India Financial Services, Chairman Tantra Narayan Thakur said.

July 12, 2010: State-run Chhattisgarh State Power Generation Company (CSPGC) has recorded the highest Plant Load Factor (PLF) among all generation companies across the country in the month of June 2010.

July 12, 2010: Australia's Riversdale Mining is turning out to be a confluence of Brazil, India and China. After signing on Tata Steel in 2007 and Brazil's CSN in 2009, Riversdale has roped in China's Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation (Wisco). Tata Steel and CSN hold 21.8 percent and 16 percent stake, respectively, in the company, while Wisco would subscribe for an eight percent stake.

July 12, 2010: State-owned NTPC has scrapped its plans to set up a 4,000-MW power plant in Uttar Pradesh over differences with the state government, and instead moved the coal-fired project to Barethi in Madhya Pradesh.

July 9, 2010: The Naveen Jindal owned Jindal Power Limited (JPL) has decided to change the site of its proposed 1320 MW power plant in Angul district to avoid use of irrigated land for the project.

July 9, 2010: State-run Coal India Ltd is likely to hit the market by the third week of October with India's largest ever public offer to raise up to Gainers & losers Rs 15,000 crore.

July 9, 2010: The government has stepped in to end uncertainties over coal mining caused by the tough stance of the environment ministry, as it gears up for the crucial initial share sale of state-owned Coal India.

July 9, 2010: Reliance Power, part of the Anil Ambani group, tied up finances required for building a 4,000-mw thermal power plant in Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, including a debt of about Rs 13,000 crore.

July 8. 2010: The Environment Ministry and Coal Ministry have initiated a joint exercise to identify and map coal reserves in forests for coal mining. Such areas are being classified as 'go' and 'no-go' areas.

July 8, 2010: Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Power said it has tied up finances for its Rs 17,500 crore ultra mega power project at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

July 1, 2010: A committee formed by the Indian government visited Hasdeo-Arand coal block in Chhattisgarh for an on-the-spot assessment of Ministry of Environment and Forest's declaration of the coalfield as "no go area", a Coal Ministry source told ICMW on July 1.

July 1, 2010: Essar Power Ltd's captive coal block at Mahan in Madhya Pradesh has been categorized as a "no go area" by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, a coal ministry source told ICMW on July 1.

July 1, 2010: After investing nearly Rs 16,000 crore in its upcoming 4,620 MW coal-fired thermal power plant at Mundra, the Adani Group is now considering setting up yet another 4,000 MW coal-fired plant in the vicinity of the existing one in Gujarat's Kutch district.

July 1, 2010: About a fortnight ago, the International Coal Ventures Ltd (ICVL) board approved a binding bid for a deposit having estimated reserves of 220 million tons in Queensland, Australia.

July 1, 2010: Permission has been granted to Himachal EMTA Power Ltd (HEPL) for setting up of a pithead power plant in a joint venture (JV), to generate 660 MW thermal power by investing around Rs 4000 crore in the entire project.

June 28, 2010: The Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) plans to operate Garjanbahal open cast coal mine in Sundergarh district, which recently received forest clearance, next month.

June 28, 2010: Buyout firm Blackstone may announce the purchase of 12% of Monnet Power for Rs 300 crore as early as this week, according to two persons with direct knowledge of the plan.

June 25, 2010: The Coal Ministry said it has approved fuel supply for two upcoming power projects in Rajasthan with an estimated investment of Rs 10,000 crore.

June 25, 2010: Essar Oil Ltd has bagged four Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks under the fourth round of CBM.

June 21, 2010: Reliance Power has started generating power from the second unit of Rosa thermal power project.

June 17, 2010: After 15 years of commissioning of the 3000 MW NTPC-Kaniha super thermal power plant, the power plant authorities would finally get to evacuate the huge pile of fly ash from the ash pond and dump it in an abandoned coal mine at Talcher Coalfields under the command area of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL).

June 16, 2010: The Indian unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc has issued a spot tender to import 300,000 tonnes of steam coal, a company source said on Wednesday.

June 15, 2010: India's national authority on clean development mechanism (CDM) has approved Adani Power's two power projects to draw carbon credits worth Rs 290 crore annually.

June 11, 2010: Adani Power Ltd (APL) is likely to commission the third unit (330 MW) of Mundra thermal power station within a month.

June 11, 2010: State-run PFC is likely to invite preliminary bids for the 4,000 MW ultra mega power project at Bedabahal in Orissa tomorrow, even as the fate of a similar project in Chhattisgarh remains undecided due to non-receipt of environment clearance.

June 11, 2010: JSW Energy today said it may pick up 70 percent stake in South Africa-based Indian Ocean Mining Ltd, a move that would help the company in enhancing its fuel security.

June 10, 2010: Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Power has signed a share-sale agreement with Indonesia's Sugico Group to acquire three coal mines in a transaction that will involve a series of production-linked milestone payments.

June 9, 2010: Six merchant bankers have been appointed to act

June 9, 2010: The power ministry is likely to change the location of the proposed 4,000-Mw

June 9, 2010: Tata Power is looking for a strategic stake purchase in coal mines

June 8, 2010: Asian surge continues; supply contraints in medium term add to pressure.

June 07, 2010: India is looking at buying coal mines in Australia through two state-owned entities in a bid to bridge the domestic coal supply-demand shortfall, a top government official said here on Monday.

June 07, 2010: RP Goenka (RPG) flagship Calcutta Electric Supply Company (CESC) has just acquired 100% ownership in Dhariwal Infrastructure by snapping the remaining 50% for a shade over Rs 100 crore.

June 07, 2010: MUMBAI: Maharashtra's state power generation utility Mahagenco is looking for strategic partners to set up two critical power plants at Dhopave in Konkan and Dhondai in Dhule district.

June 05, 2010: The Karnataka government on Friday offered 3,000 Mw of gas-based power projects at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore to the private sector for investment. Of this, 2,100 Mw has been split into three projects of 700 Mw each.

June 05, 2010: State-owned Neyveli Lignite Corp today commissioned its lignite-based power plant at Barsingar, in Rajasthan.

June 06, 2010: A2Z Maintenance & Engineering Services is planning to invest about Rs 3,000 crore to set up a 500-Mega watt (Mw) biomass power plant from municipal solid-waste, within two years.

June 07, 2010: Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL), a state run apex electricity company in Gujarat, has entered into power purchase agreements (PPAs) with 28 companies for procuring 420 Mw of solar power.

June 07, 2010: JSW Energy (Bengal) Limited, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the Bengal power and coal project, will be investing about Rs 2,000 crore in coal mine development.

June 07, 2010: KSK Energy Ventures Limited, a Hyderabad-based power plant developer, has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) from its power plant at Nariyara, Chhattisgarh.

June 07, 2010: Sadbhav Engineering today said it has bagged a contract worth Rs 92.08 crore from a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd (CIL).

June 3, 2010: The power regulator is likely to propose a Rs 5 a unit (kilowatt-hour) cap on the sale of power from coal-fired plants in the short-term market.

June 3, 2010: Reliance Industries, freed from its non-compete agreement with the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) that barred it from investing in high-growth sectors, is likely to make its first big-ticket investment in coal-fired power plants.

June 3, 2010: Sasol, the largest producer of motor fuel made from coal, plans to spend $10 billion in India in partnership with the Tata Group on a block awarded last year, following similar investments in Indonesia and China.

June 3, 2010: India's largest power producer, NTPC, is set to acquire controlling interest in a 720-million-ton coal field in Australia in a deal valued at $1-1.5 billion, which will enable it to fire about 3,500 MW of power capacity.

June 2, 2010: State-run miner Coal India Ltd (CIL) may push back its initial public offering (IPO) to September or October, instead of July-August as planned earlier, due to the ongoing euro zone crisis.

May 31, 2010: The Madhya Pradesh government has once again blamed the Centre, particularly Indian Railways, for coal shortage at its 1,350-Mw Birsinghpur power plant, thereby creating at least 500-Mw power shortage in the state.

May 31, 2010: ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steel producer, has planned a foray into power generation in India.

May 31, 2010: NTPC-BHEL Power Projects Pvt Ltd (NBPPL) is hoping to bag contracts worth Rs 6,500 crore for executing thermal power projects in the next two months.

May 31, 2010 : In a bid to increase its power generation capacity, the state power utility Mahagenco has called for Expression of Interest (EoIs) from companies for participating in a joint venture for development of a 3,200 MW coal-based power plant at Ratnagiri.

May 28, 2010: The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, K. Rosaiah, has written to the Union Power Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, seeking coal linkage for three power projects of AP Genco, including the mega 5x800 MW coal-fired power project planned at Vodarevu.

May 28, 2010: Neyveli Lignite Corporation has reported a 52 percent jump in net profit for 2009-10 compared with that of the previous year.

May 27, 2010: State-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) today reported a rise of about 42 percent in audited net profit to Rs 1,909.5 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2010, against Rs 1,347.4 crore in the corresponding period a year earlier.

May 27, 2010: Gujarat NRE Coke Limited, producer of low-ash metallurgical coke, is all set to begin work on its Rs 800-crore greenfield coke plant at Ativaram village in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.

May 21, 2010: Expansion of cement production capacities in the southern states is likely to be slower than expected due to shortage in coal supplies, the main fuel.

May 20, 2010: Power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) today said that its industry sector business grew at a record 40 percent in 2009-10.

May 20, 2010: North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (Neepco) is all set to develop two power projects in Meghalaya, one 500 MW thermal power project and the other 85 MW hydro-power project.

May 18, 2010: International Coal Ventures Ltd (ICVL), a joint venture of five public sector undertakings of India - SAIL, RINL, CIL, NTPC and NMDC - is going ahead with its plans to acquire coal assets overseas.

May 17, 2010: The chairman of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), S.K. Roongta, on May 17 said there is no reason for further hike in coking coal contract price for second quarter of 2010-11.

May 17, 2010: Reliance Infrastructure will acquire an additional 850 MW of electricity from the market to ensure there is no power shortage in Mumbai, a top official said on Saturday.

May 17, 2010: Nitol-Niloy, the Bangladesh partner of Indian conglomerate Tata Group, plans to set up a 1,000MW power plant in a joint venture that will be the largest in the country.

May 10, 2010: The government is likely to appoint six merchant bankers, including the lowest bidder Citigroup, that have been shortlisted for managing the initial public offer of state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) within a few days, according to market sources.

May 10, 2010: DCM Shriram Consolidated (DSCL) today said that it will spend Rs 80 crore in two years to develop a lignite mine in Rajasthan, so it could replace coal as the fuel at its Kota power plant.

May 7, 2010: Four miners were killed and 28 injured in a massive blast in the Anjan Hills coalmine in Chhattisgarh's Koriya district.

May 7, 2010: The cabinet may take up the divestment proposal of state-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) this week. The government plans to sell a 10 percent stake in Coal India in July.

May 7, 2010: Ratan Jindal led JSL Limited and the Orissa government signed a memorandum of understanding for establishment of 1320 MW Super Critical Thermal Power Plant (SCTPP) with an investment of Rs 7375 crore. The project would come up at Luni in Dhenkanal district.

May 5, 2010: India's largest iron ore miner, NMDC Ltd, is in talks to form a coal mining joint venture with state-owned Coal India Ltd.

May 5, 2010: Engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Tuesday signed a joint venture pact with the England-based Howden to design, engineer, manufacture and supply axial fans and air pre-heaters to thermal power plants.

May 3, 2010: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), the country's largest power producer, expects to complete land acquisition for its two mega power projects in Orissa - one 4800 MW plant at Darlipalli in Sundergarh district and one 3200 MW plant at Gajmara in Dhenkanal district- in the next six months.

May 3, 2010: State-run Coal India has come under the scanner of competition watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) for tying up supply of mining explosives from a particular company without inviting bids, but the PSU denies doing anything anti-competitive.

April 30, 2010: NTPC-BHEL Power Projects Pvt Ltd (NBPPL) has said it is expecting orders worth Rs 7,000 crore by the end of the current fiscal. NBPPL is a 50:50 joint venture company of state-owned NTPC and BHEL.

April 30, 2010: Madhucon Projects Ltd has announced it has secured a EPC contract worth Rs 1,198 crore for setting up thermal power plant near Krishnapatnam in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.

April 29, 2010: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), has said it has formed a joint venture with state-run Coal India Ltd that will focus on acquisition of coal blocks in India and abroad.

April 29, 2010: Public sector power major National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is targeting a combined power generation capacity of almost 10,000 MW in Uttar Pradesh by 2017.

April 26, 2010: India's largest power producer NTPC said on Friday its provisional net profit for the full year ended March rose 5.6% to Rs 8,657 crore.

April 26, 2010: Coal India, which is set to launch an initial public offering, will qualify for the Maharatna status with greater autonomy after listing on the stock market in the next few months.

April 25, 2010: State-owned NTPC will start the Rs 1,000-crore expansion project of its Bongaigaon power plant in Assam on Thursday for meeting the growing power requirement of the region.

April 26, 2010:Gujarat NRE Coking Coal Limited, the Australian subsidiary of Gujarat NRE Coke has entered into a contract with Joy Manufacturing Company Pty Limited for supply of Longwall Systems.

April 23, 2010: Public sector enterprise Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) is in the process of reviving an old business line: that of putting up coal washeries for subsidiaries of Coal India (CIL).

April 23, 2010: Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bajaj Hindustan Limited to set up a 1,980-MW thermal power project in Lalitpur district of Bundelkhand region.

April 23, 2010: The much-discussed proposal for barge movement of imported coal from Haldia to Farakka (West Bengal) and Kahalgaon (Bihar) is believed to have run into rough weather as the importer (NTPC) and the facilitator of the movement (Inland Waterways Authority of India) do not see eye to eye on several issues.

April 23, 2010: Sterlite Energy, a group company of Vedanta Plc, has signed a Rs 1400 crore operation and maintenance (O&M) contract with Evonik Energy Services India (EESI) for their 4x600 Mw power plant at Jharsuguda.

April 23, 2010: Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL), the state-owned power generator, is exploring the possibility of acquiring a coal mine in Indonesia.

April 22, 2010: Bidders for the ultra mega power project at Chhattisgarh, that are set to put in their pre-qualification bids by May 3, could be in for a major jolt as coal blocks linked to the 4000 MW project is unlikely to get the nod from the environment ministry.

April 21, 2010: Bangalore-based GMR group is planning to raise an additional $100 million (over Rs 447 crore) from a group of private equity companies, led by Singapore-based Temasek Holdings, to fund its expansion plans.

April 21, 2010: With rising power deficit in the country, merchant power, or short-term purchase contracts, are getting expensive each month.

April 21, 2010: The Mayawati cabinet has approved setting up of the 1980 MW thermal power plant in Lalitpur by Bajaj Hindustan led consortium under the MoU route.

April 21, 2010: State-owned Coal India is set to sign pacts with global companies this month to set up two washeries as part of its proposed Rs 4,000-crore project to reduce ash content of the domestic fuel.

April 20, 2010: The government today informed Parliament that due to limited availability of indigenous coal, the gap between requirement and its availability is expected to be bridged through import.

April 19, 2010: The government today informed Parliament that due to limited availability of indigenous coal, the gap between requirement and its availability is expected to be bridged through import.

April 19, 2010: Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Energy on Friday announced acquisition of part of a company that owns shares in South African Coal Mining Holding for an undisclosed amount.

April 19, 2010: State-owned BHEL today said it has bagged a Rs 6,300-crore order for setting up an energy-efficient power plant in Karnataka.

April 16, 2010: Coal India Ltd is on the verge of closing a deal with US-based miner Peabody Energy that would give it a stake in four Australian coal mines along with other overseas assets.

April 16, 2010: Public sector NTPC and Coal India have signed an agreement for setting up two 2,000 MW coal-based power projects in Jharkhand under a 50:50 joint venture, officials said on April 14.

April 14, 2010: In fresh trouble for MNC Adani power group, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today indicated that his ministry would not approve the company's proposal for drawing water from Pench Tiger reserve for its project in Madhya Pradesh.

April 12, 2010: The state-run BHEL and Karnataka State Electricity Board are likely to soon announce a Rs 9,000 crore joint venture project to set up a 1600-MW power plant in the state.

April 10, 2010: The coal stock position at 79 thermal power plants across the country continues to be woeful with most of the plants having less stock than the normative level.

April 12, 2010: The Ministry of Coal has directed the state owned navratna coal firm Coal India Limited (CIL) to continue its coal supplies to the various consumers on a tapering basis.

April 9, 2010: Buoyed with hefty demand from India, South Africa's coal export through Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) rose by 14.56 percent in March compared with February.

April 8, 2010: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) power sector southern region (PSSR) has registered a turnover of Rs 1,155 crore in the year ended March 31, 2010, against Rs 995 crore in the previous year, an increase of 16 percent.

April 08, 2010: Work on the country's first and biggest integrated coal gassification combined cycle (ICGCC) power plant is likely to commence in June 2010. The Rs 2,500-crore plant will come up at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and will be set up by three joint venture partners, with one of them being Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL).

April 7, 2010: India will add only 61,000 MW of power generation capacity in the five-year period to March 2012, lower than the target of 78,000 MW, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters on Wednesday.

Source: The Economic Times

April 7, 2010: Work on the country's first and biggest Integrated Coal Gasification Combined Cycle (ICGCC) power plant is likely to commence in June 2010.

April 7, 2010: India's largest coal miner, Coal India, plans to set up 20 new modern washeries with a total capacity of 111 million tons over the next four-five years in partnership with private agencies.

April 7, 2010: State-run Coal India Ltd has posted a four-fold growth in its 2009-10 net profit at Rs 8,312 crore ahead of its initial public offering, even as chairman Partho S Bhattacharya said the company has lined up a warchest of Rs 6,000 crore for acquisition of overseas coal mines.

April 5, 2010: India will help Sri Lanka construct a 500-MW coal-based power plant in Trincomalee. An agreement in this regard is expected to be signed next month.

April 5, 2010: Coal India Limited's (CIL) plan to revive and develop the abandoned mines has gained momentum as the coal major has finalized the tender document and sent it to its respective subsidiaries.

April 5, 2010: The Ministry of Power is looking to clear swiftly coal linkages for projects based on supercritical technology, said sources.

April 1, 2010: Coal India Ltd has sought 20 percent increase in availability of rakes to meet its annual production and sales targets of 461 million tons and 462 mt respectively in 2010-11. The targets were fixed by the Union Coal Ministry recently.

April 1, 2010: Coal consumers, who are sore over the dwindling coal supplies from the linked coal blocks of Coal India Limited (CIL), may even face worse times ahead as the navratna coal company is set to end 2010-11 with a negative coal balance of 110 million tons (mt).

April 1, 2010: The proposed Kudagi Thermal power plant, a 4,000 Mw ultra mega power project, planned to be set up by the National Thermal Power Corporation at Kudagi in Basavana Bagewadi taluk of Bijapur has hit a roadblock with farmers opposing the acquisition of land for the project.

March 31, 2010: Coal India Ltd. (CIL) has finalised two key contenders for its international joint venture (JV) in Australian and US each. The coal majors are Rio Tinto and US coal producer, Peabody Energy.

March 30, 2010: Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal today said coal blocks would be allocated on the merit of the proposed power projects, including 'likeability' of production, within the current 11 th Plan.

March 29, 2010: More than 4 lakh coal workers across eight states of the country have decided to go on a three-day nationwide strike from May 3-5, paralyzing work at the coalfields, if the Centre fails to meet their 11-point charter of demands by April 18.

March 29, 2010: While the government of West Bengal is blaming the shortage of coal for the continuing power crisis in the state, rampant loot of coal in broad daylight from the coal siding is forcing the coal producing company to halt production and supply to the power stations.

March 26, 2010: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), the state owned power generator, has evinced interest to set up solar and wind projects in Orissa with aggregate generation capacity of 500 MW.

March 26, 2010: The Essar Group on Thursday said it has agreed to acquire a 64-million-ton (mt) coal mine from an unnamed private company in Indonesia as part of its efforts to secure raw material supplies for its proposed thermal power projects in India.

March 25, 2010: The Orissa government has decided to sign memorandum of understanding (MoU) with six more Independent Power Producers (IPPs) envisaging an aggregate generation capacity of 5,940 Mw.

March 25, 2010: As part of its plan to foray into coal mining business, the state owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) intends to file formal application with the Union Coal Ministry for allotment of coal mines in favour of its coal subsidiary to be formed soon.

March 24, 2010: Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) will sign an MoU with the Orissa government to set up a coal-to-liquid (CTL) project in the state with an investment of Rs 45,000 crore. The project includes a power plant and a coal washery.

March 22, 2010: State-owned NTPC said it has signed an agreement with Gujarat Power Corporation for executing 500 MW renewable power projects in the state.

March 19, 2010: Commissioning of Adani Power's 3,300 MW power plant at Tiroda in Maharashtra runs the risk of getting delayed for want of fuel due to an environment hurdle in mining coal, said a person familiar with the development.

March 18, 2010: More than 3 million tons (mt) of imported coal are awaiting evacuation at the east coast ports of Paradip, Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram due to non-availability of railway rakes.

March 18, 2010: Japanese power companies, including Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and J-Power, seek to make their presence felt in India.

March 18, 2010: The Orissa government has received proposals from eight companies keen to start coal mining in Angul district.

March 17, 2010: Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), the flagship company of Coal India Ltd (CIL), will soon become one of the 10 best coal companies in the world, achieving a coal output of over 100 million tons (mt) by the end of this fiscal, MCL chairman and managing director, S.R. Upadhyay said.

March 17, 2010: State-owned Power Finance Corp (PFC) today said it was keen to pick up as much as 26 percent equity in power generation projects in the country.

March 16, 2010: Akhil Bharatiya Khadan Majdoor Sangh (ABKMS), a major trade union in Coal India Limited (CIL), has strongly opposed the Centre's move to offload 15 percent stake in the navratna coal firm.

March 16, 2010: Coal glutted Europe is close to shipping surplus material for the first time from Netherlands stockpiles to India, where import demand is booming, European and Indian traders said.

March 16, 2010: The groundbreaking quarterly price contract between the Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner and Japanese steel maker JFE Steel on coking coal is of consequence for us because of our growing dependence on imports for the metallurgical grade fuel.

March 16, 2010: State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) has raised objections to the choice of site for Vedanta Aluminium Limited's proposed plant at Bidhanbag near Asansol in West Bengal, saying that it was a coal-bearing region.

March 15, 2010: The chairman-cum-managing director of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), T.K. Lahiry, has expressed satisfaction over the progress on the Jharia Action Plan (JAP), the single largest rehabilitation and compensation plan by any public sector company, and said that it is moving reasonably well.

March 15, 2010: India's two leading coal producing companies - Coal India Ltd (CIL) and Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) - will invest nearly Rs 6700 crore (about $1.5 billion) over the next few years to increase production of coal from underground mines, Minister of State for Coal Sriprakash Jaiswal said.

December 30, 2009: Neyveli Lignite Corporation today said it plans to venture into power generation and mining industry business.

December 30, 2009: Coal supply to the captive power plant of National Aluminium Company (Nalco) here was hit on Tuesday due to the outbreak of fire at the rapid loading system at the linked Bharatpur coal mine in Talcher Coalfields.

December 9, 2009: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday said it was expecting five merchant power plants to come up in the state with a total installed capacity of 10,000 Mw by 2012.

December 9, 2009: West Bengal, on Tuesday, became the forerunner in mega-watt level solar power generation with the commissioning a 2MW grid-connected solar photovoltaic plant at Jamuria, near Asansol.

December 9, 2009: A day into the Copenhagen climate change meetings, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has indicated that it has no definite roadmap to implement its ambitious target of 20,0000 MW of solar power by 2022.

December 4, 2009: Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Energy on Friday said it is exploring opportunities in the power distribution sector to diversify the company's business.

December 4, 2009: Sajjan Jindal led JSW Group on Friday said it is looking at buying coal mines abroad for feeding its growing steel and power businesses.

December 4, 2009: Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) has initiated the process to set up a 4X700-Mw nuclear power project in Haryana, which would be a green project with zero emission.

December 4, 2009: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to advise the Nuclear Corporation of India to bear with the state government for the delay in the site selection process for a nuclear power project.

December 3, 2009: Soon investors will get to own a slice of India's largest coal mining company. Coal India its initial public offering will hit markets in November or December 2010.

December 3, 2009: BPL Ltd said on December 2, 2009 that it has entered into a pact with Chhattisgarh government to set up a 300 MW coal-based power plant in the eastern state.

December 2, 2009: The government is betting on a big boost in private power project commissioning to partly make up for the glaring slippages expected in projects executed by the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSU) during the current Eleventh Plan period.

November 26, 2009: The Union Power Ministry may invite qualifying bids for only one ultra mega power project before the end of the current fiscal, a senior official said.

November 26, 2009: India's largest coal mining company, plans to form joint ventures for overseas exploration and mining operations to increase coal supplies to Indian user companies, a senior executive said on Wednesday.

November 24, 2009: Power projects with a cumulative capacity of 4,000 MW may miss their March commissioning date due to a shortage of engineers from Chinese firms that sold the equipment for these projects, the Minister of State for Power, Bharatsinh Solanki, said in Parliament on November 23, 2009.

November 24, 2009: Indian power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has informed that it had got an order worth Rs 56 billion ($1.2 billion) to build a 1,980 megawatts thermal power plant in north India.

October 17, 2009: The 1200 MW thermal power project of Jindal India Limited at Kaniha,

October 17, 2009: The Coal India Limited's (CIL's) move of 11 percent hike in the price of coal is likely to impose

October 4, 2009: Cement companies, which have been struggling to secure coal linkages, may be set for some relief. Coal India (CIL) will remove some clauses that are hindering the signing of fuel supply agreements with cement companies.
 

September 27, 2009: State-run power generation company, Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd (GSECL) intends to procure 15 lakh tons of non-coking steam (thermal) imported coal. The company has invited bids from coal suppliers for supply of coal on high seas sale basis.

September 26, 2009: MCL Mining Contractors' Association has served an ultimatum to MCL (Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd) authorities to go on strike from October 1 unless its three main grievances are addressed by the end of the current month.

by Nudrat Alim

September 17, 2009: Production of hard coal in Turkey was recorded at 1 million ton in the first seven months of 2009, as per the World Bulletin.

by Gargi Sahai

September 17, 2009: India's energy generation in the month of July 2009 stood at 62,933 MU, which is 3.43 percent less than the planned generation target of 65169.30 MU, according to a compilation of Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

by Nudrat Alim

September 17, 2009: Industrial development can take place in totality when supported by a strong logistics platform. However, speaking specifically of coal, industry sources have revealed that the shortage of railway rakes have resulted in unwarranted delays as far as delivery is concerned.

September 17, 2009: A global energy supply crunch, despite the current worldwide economic slowdown, is imminent if leading companies do not continue to make large investments, chairman of Shell Australia, Russell Caplan, said recently.

September 17, 2009: Merrill Lynch & Co. a unit of Bank of America Corp. increased its price forecast for Asian power-station coal in the first week of August because of higher demand from India and China. However, Peabody Energy Corp, the leading global mining company, sees a slowing second half demand from China.

September 17, 2009: As many as eight workers were killed and 12 injured while another 19 were missing in three different accidents involving coal mines in Colombia, South Africa and Slovakia in the first half of August 2009.

by Chandrika Bose

September 17, 2009: The Energy Information Administration (EIA), an independent statistical organisation within the US Department of Energy, has said in its August report that coal consumption in the country will decline at a much steeper rate in 2009 than the fall projected in the July report.

September 17, 2009: China's coal exports rose 9 percent in July from the previous month, when they hit their lowest in more than 11 years in June, the country's Customs data said in mid-August.

September 17, 2009: Coal export from Richards Bay Coal Terminal, Africa's largest coal-export facility, fell by nearly 3 percent in July compared with the same month a year ago.

September 17, 2009: South Korea's thermal coal imports in July rose 3.7 percent to 8.97 million tons (mt) from 8.65 mt a year earlier, the country's customs data showed on August 16.

September 17, 2009: Vietnam, which is planning to cut down its coal exports to meet domestic demand, plans to export 3 million tons (mt) of anthracite coal this year, of which around 2.5 mt is planned to be exported to China, the report said.

September 17, 2009: The Forum of Regulators, which is chaired by the chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and has all the chairpersons of State Electricity Regulatory Commissions as its members, has ruled that the additional unscheduled-interchange (UI) charges imposed on distribution utilities for excessive overdrawal from the grid would not be allowed to be recovered from consumers with effect from August 1, 2009.

September 17, 2009: Power producers of the country now do not have to worry about setting up dedicated lines to transmit the power they generate.

September 17, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL), the world's single largest coal producing company, has reported a sharp fall in its net profit in 2008-09 to Rs 2078.69 crore compared to previous year's comparable figure of Rs 5243.27 crore, on hefty rise in its wages and salary bills, the company's chairman P.S. Bhattacharyya said.

by Chandrika Bose

September 17, 2009: The Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), which controls 99 percent of India's energy and metals derivatives trade, launched the country's first imported thermal coal futures on August 7.

September 17, 2009: West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL) has signed an agreement with Power Finance Corporate Ltd (PFC) to avail a loan of Rs 159.98 crore for developing IT infrastructure in distribution sector in West Bengal under Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP).

September 17, 2009: Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), a joint venture between government of India and Andhra Pradesh government, has recently raised coal prices by an average of 20 percent, a senior official of a cement company said.

September 17, 2009: India needs to focus more on adoption of green technologies as growth with ecological stability is the real growth and if the country wants that, it cannot ignore the environment, said co-chairman of Energy and Environment Committee of Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Arun Mukherjee.

September 17, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) can finally expect some development in prospecting coal reserves in forest areas.

September 17, 2009: The board of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has given its clearance to form a joint venture with Coal India Ltd (CIL). With this, the proposed 50:50 JV between the two companies is likely to be formed soon.

September 17, 2009: The prices of low ash metallurgical (LAM) coke in India are likely to remain weak at least till September, a top official of a south India based manufacturer told Coal Insights.

September 17, 2009: A total of 19 more captive coal blocks are likely to reach production stage during the current financial year. This was revealed at a review meeting conducted by the Coal Ministry in August 2009, in which concerns were expressed over the slow pace of development by the allottees of coal blocks for captive use, despite repeated assurances to the contrary.

September 17, 2009: Underground mine fire in the Jharkhand coal belt has severely affected the lives of the people in this region. Roads, railways, hospitals, schools and residential houses are on the verge of collapse. As per information from the Ministry of Coal, more than a lakh houses are under threat.

September 17, 2009: The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure has approved the much awaited Jharia Action Plan (JAP) for dealing with fire, subsidence and rehabilitation and diversion of surface infrastructure within the leasehold of Jharia and Raniganj coalfields for recovery of valuable coking coal.

September 14, 2009: Essar Power Ltd, the first independent power producer (IPP) in the country to set up a power plant at Hazira in Gujarat soon after the power sector was liberalised, is set to become a company with total power generation capacity of 6000 MW by 2012, the company's director Anshuman Ruia said.

September 17, 2009: The Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), a subsidiary of the Coal India Limited (CIL), has decided to strengthen its technical manpower by recruiting a large number of personnel to cope with the increasing workload.

September 17, 2009: Nearly two years after it was suggested in Coal Distribution Policy that was announced in October 2007, the Coal India Ltd (CIL) subsidiaries finally introduced forward e-auction of coal on August 17.

September 16, 2009: In an attempt to lure the states so that they do not raise any objections to the proposed move for allotment of captive coal blocks through auction route, the government is considering incorporating a provision under which preference will be given to a company that proposes to set up the end-use industry within the state in which the coal block is located.

by Arusha Das & Rakesh Dubey

September 16, 2009: The Visa Group is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland through its holding company VISA Minmetal AG and operates through its subsidiaries all over the world.

Rakesh Dubey & Arusha Das

September 16, 2009: Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited is a leading coal trading, processing and beneficiation and logistics service provider in major parts of South, East and Central India for the last 28 years.

September 16, 2009: Infrastructure constraints at the Talcher coalfield under the command area of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) have hit evacuation and supplies of coal.

by Arusha Das

September 16, 2009: Demand for coal is all set to see an upward trend in the coming years. India is striding fast to ramp up its power capacity. Along with that is the demand from other coal hungry sectors.

September 16, 2009: The Nagpur-based Gupta Group has interest in coal, infrastructure, power, mining and logistics with its investment arm Gupta Corporation Ltd; and other operating companies like Gupta Coal (India) Ltd, Gupta Coalfields & Washeries Ltd, Gupta Energy Private Ltd, PT Gupta Coal International and Gupta Infrastructures Pvt Ltd.

September 16, 2009: Knowledge Infrastructure Services Private Ltd (KISPL) is comparatively a new entrant to the Indian coal import scene, but in this short period, it has made a mark for itself by cornering a huge chunk of total imported coal supplies market.

September 16, 2009: Till very recently, supply of imported coal to consumers was largely dominated by and restricted to a few very strong, old and established companies including the state-run MMTC, STC and private sector companies like Adani Enterprises, Bhatia Coal and Agarwal Coal.

September 16, 2009: Gujarat NRE Minerals Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd, is in the final stages of commissioning a longwall panel at NRE Wongawilli hard coking coal mine near New South Wales.

September 16, 2009: Taking a cue from the huge success of initial public offerings (IPOs) of Adani Power and NHPC Ltd to raise funds for their expansion plans, JSW Energy Ltd (JSWEL), a subsidiary of Sajjan Jindal controlled JSW Steel, has also decided to tap the capital market to mobilise funds for its six ongoing projects.

September 16, 2009: Tata Power Ltd, which is setting up a 1050 MW power plant at Maithon in joint venture with DVC, has announced that almost 54 percent of the work on the project has already been completed.

September 16, 2009: India's largest power producer, state-run NTPC Ltd, is looking to spend up to $1 billion to acquire a South African coal mining firm, a media report said.

by Rakesh Dubey

September 16, 2009: Southern India's leading cement manufacturer, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd, is set to commission its 2.5 million tons per annum (mtpa) greenfield cement plant at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu and that will double the company's monthly requirement of thermal coal to about 1,00,000 tons per month, the company's managing director, Puneet Dalmia, told Coal Insights.

by Arnab Mallick

September 16, 2009: After a steady decline in price till this March, the global thermal coal market is finally showing some steady revival.

by Arnab Mallick

September 16, 2009: Metallurgical coke, coking coal and injection coal is being actively traded in the market at the moment. As supply is tight, coal price is likely to keep rising in the short term but only by a small extent.

September 13, 2009:The Union Coal Ministry has issued a show-cause notice to the Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation asking it to explain the delay in the development of a coal block. It has also threatened to de-allocate the block, which was allotted in December 2005.

September 12, 2009: Northern Coal Fields Limited, had produced 63.6 million tons of coal and earned Rs 3,131 crore last year, which was 6.75 percent more than the target. This year's target is 66.50 million tons and NCL is going ahead in achieving it, stated chairman and managing director Vinay Kumar Singh.

September 12, 2009: The large-size power projects announced by various Indian companies seem to have prompted a standalone Indonesian coal miner to come knocking on their doors.

September 6, 2009: There is total lack of buyer interest in Coal India Ltd's recently launched forward e-auction platform

August 30, 2009: Ending months of suspense, the Government of India has finally allotted the Rs 6,000 crore power projects equipment manufacturing unit of the NTPC-BHEL to Andhra Pradesh.

August 29, 2009: The government today said the process of disinvestment in Coal India Ltd (CIL) would start soon and in the first phase it would be around 10 percent.

August 29, 2009: Tata Power Company (TPC), India's largest private sector power utility, has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 572.65 crore for the first quarter of 2009-10, 160 percent higher than the Rs 219.9 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

August 29, 2009: The government has allowed NTPC and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to invite global tenders for sourcing supercritical power equipment worth over Rs 25,000 crore. The bulk tender will be invited with a clause on mandatory domestic manufacturing.

August 29, 2009: The Adani Power Maharashtra Ltd (APML), which is coming up with a 1320 MW power plant at Tiroda in Gondia district, has decided to supply power from its proposed plant at Rs 2.64 per unit to the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL).

August 29, 2009: CESC Ltd on Friday announced the acquisition of a 51% stake in Dhariwal Infrastructure Ltd, a Manikchand group company, for Rs 200 crore. CESC vice chairman Sanjiv Goenka said the company has built up a Rs 1000-crore corpus to fund similar acquisitions in the future.

August 29, 2009: Heavy engineering and equipment maker Larsen & Toubro has emerged as the lowest bidder for supplying boiler-turbine-generator (BTG) to Maharashtra State Power Generation Company's (Mahagenco) proposed 1,980 MW thermal power plant at Koradi in Nagpur.

August 29, 2009: Steel, power and cement companies will have to sell surplus coal from their captive blocks for 20% less than the government-determined price, according to a policy being framed by the Coal Ministry.

August 21, 2009: The Ruias-promoted Essar Energy will begin production of coal-bed methane (CBM) from Raniganj block in West Bengal from December 2009. It would be producing the gas -- which is found in coal seams -- from 15 wells in the first phase.

August 21, 2009: State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) will start import of non-coking coal from December to meet the requirement of power generating firms.

August 21, 2009: GMR Infrastructure, the Rs 4,500-crore Bangalore-based infrastructure developer with a focus on power generation, airports development, highways and urban infrastructure, is understood to be initiating plans for an 800-MW coal-fired power plant on the eastern coast of India.

August 20, 2009: Domestic power majors Suzlon Energy and Tata Power, which have renewable energy projects in Australia, will benefit as that country is implementing a law to ensure 20 percent of the country's electricity comes from renewable sources by 2020.

August 20, 2009: Seven private power generators, including Reliance Power, Adani Power, Essar Energy and the state-owned power trader PTC India, have evinced
interest in supplying 2,000 MW to Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MahaDiscom). The commercial bid for the same will be opened next week.

August 18, 2009: Despite hiccups in land acquisition, the progress of the 1005 MW power plant being put up by Monnet Ispat and Energy Limited near Angul is on schedule.

August 18, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL), which was awarded two exploratory coal blocks in Mozambique

August 18, 2009: MMTC Ltd has scrapped its controversial tender for the import of 12.5 million tons (mt) of coal valued at Rs 6,000 crore for NTPC Ltd

August 16, 2009: Coal India Ltd may finally expect some headway in prospecting coal reserves in forest areas.

August 15, 2009: The government is planning to incorporate a provision in the proposal for auction of coal blocks

August 14, 2009: Jindal India Thermal Power Limited, which is setting up a 1200MW power plant at Dereng village near Talcher, has recorded a cost escalation of about Rs 300 crore due to the eight-month delay in the beginning of its construction work.

August 14, 2009: The Ranchi-based Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), in collaboration with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), department of space, has developed a methodology for rapid and accurate measurement of excavated volume of overburden/coal in opencast coal mines using Light Dedtection Ranging (LiDAR) Technology.

August 13, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL), which is actively pursuing the issue of disinvestment with the Centre, aims to raise Rs 6,000 crore through a stake sell of 10 percent.

August 13, 2009: As part of its long-term strategy, Tata NYK Shipping Pte Ltd, the Singapore-based joint venture (50:50) between Tata Steel and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), a Japanese shipping major, proposes to enter into long-term charter for capesize vessels, according to the Tata Steel annual report.

August 13, 2009: Larsen & Toubro Ltd will supply and construct boiler and steam turbine and generator (STG) islands for a 1,320 MW thermal power project that Jaiprakash Power, the power unit of Jaypee Group, is setting up in Madhya Pradesh.

August 13, 2009: An MoU to form a JV was signed between Mahagenco, the state utility's generation arm, to set up a 1,320 MW thermal power plant in this Maharashtra town.

August 12, 2009: The state government has urged the Central government to reserve 70 percent of coal blocks for the power sector.

August 12, 2009: Coal loading, which accounts for the bulk of freight loading of the East Central Railway (ECR) -- 70.02 million tons (mt) out of the total of 76.71 mt in 2008-09 -- is causing concern to the authorities of the Hajipur-based zonal railway.

August 11, 2009: The public sector Coal India Ltd (CIL) is planning to import around four million tonnes of coal within this fiscal, CIL Director, Marketing, A. K. Sarkar, said. Given the lower calorific value of Indian coal, the proposed quantum is equivalent to six million tonnes of domestic coal.

August 11, 2009: State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) is looking to tie up with global mining firms to jointly mine for coal abroad.

August 10, 2009: In a bid to expand its footprint overseas, the state-run coal producer Coal India Ltd (CIL) is looking to tie up with global mining firms such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Anglo American to mine coal abroad and has floated an expression of interest (EOI) for the same.

August 10, 2009: Austral Coke and Projects Ltd said that its unit Astra Energy Ltd SARL, has acquired 16 mining licences in Guinea in West Africa. Astra Energy has acquired 12.63 lakh acres of land for mining iron ore, bauxite and manganese, Austral Coke said in a statement.

August 10, 2009: India plans to begin e-auction of coal mines for captive use by industries in 2010, Junior Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said.

August 5, 2009: Larsen & Toubro has won orders worth Rs 853 crore for setting up two coal handling plants.

The orders are from UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadam Nigam and Neyveli Lignite Corporation, it said in a statement to the stock exchanges.

Source: The Economic Times

August 5, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) said it has supplied as much as 96 percent of the annual contracted quantity (ACQ) of coal to 78 power plants in the country between April and July 2009, and despite this around 31 plants on an average were facing 'critical' coal stock position.

August 5, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) subsidiary Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) is set to launch on August 17, the much awaited forward e-auction of coal wherein it will offer around 5.82 lakh tons of coal from six loss making underground mines.

August 4, 2009: State-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) plans to diversify into nuclear and renewable energy as part of its strategy to 'go green'. The company has a capacity of 30,000 megawatt (mw), a fifth of India's total installed capacity of 150,000 mw.

August 2, 2009: Reeling under heavy losses, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd has proposed an average hike of 20 percent in the power tariffs for different categories of consumers, official sources said on Saturday.

July 28, 2009: NTPC Ltd, India's largest power generator, posted a 27 percent rise in net profit for the first quarter.

July 28, 2009: Reliance Power has said it has achieved financial closure for its 300-MW group captive power project being set up at Butibori near Nagpur in Maharashtra.

July 26, 2009 - Coal exports from South African to Asia excluding India and Pakistan in
January-June have increased slightly as compared to 2008'e levels to about 1.4 million tons, industry sources said

July 26, 2009: GMR Energy Ltd, the fully owned subsidiary GMR Infrastructure has acquired EMCO Energy Ltd, which is developing a 600-MW coal-based power plant in Warora, Maharashtra.

July 25, 2009: Despite the monsoon pick-up, the southern region continues to reel under power shortages.

July 25,2009: The financial closure for CESC Ltd's proposed Rs 2,400 crore, 2X 300 MW-thermal power plant at Haldia is delayed as a small parcel of land is not available.

July 25, 2009: Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Ltd (CMPDIL) is planning a major revamp of its exploration activity to locate untapped coal reserves in the country, said A. K. Singh, Chairman and Managing Director.

July 21, 2009: Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd (GNCL), an independent producer of low ash metallurgical (LAM) coke, plans to set up two greenfield plants -- one each in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh --with a production capacity of 1 million tons (mt).

July 21, 2009: Adani Enterprises-promoted Adani Power said the company had sold 36 million shares to a founder group firm and to private equity firm 3i.

July 20, 2009: Vedanta Resources chairman Anil Agarwal said the company would bid for ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) and coal blocks as and when the government put these on auction and added that it had plans worth Rs 70,000 crore till 2011-12.

July 19, 2009: At a time when the government is trying hard to add power generation capacity of over 78,000 Mw during the current Five-Year Plan, projects of over 45,000 MW currently under construction are running behind schedule. The latest data obtained from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) says that projects behind schedule include around 35,000 Mw of thermal power projects and rest 10,000 MW of hydro power projects, a major chunk of which is scheduled to be commissioned during the current Plan period ending March 2012.

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July 18, 2009: Jindal Steel & Power has bought the Kiepersol thermal coal mine in South Africa, industry sources said.

July 18, 2009: Mineral production in the country showed a growth of 3.79 percent in April 2009 compared with the corresponding month, last year. However, on the flipside, production was lower by 15.85 percent as compared to the previous month.

July 18, 2009: The Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) has secured coal supply for its power stations by signing a Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) with three major subsidiaries of Coal India Limited (CIL), namely Central Coalfields Limited (CCL ), Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and Northern Coalfield Limited (NCL).

July 12, 2009: They may commit investments of thousands of crores but Mittal, Tata or SAIL will have to bid like anyone else if they want coal blocks for their power or steel projects, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has said.

July 11, 2009: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), will sign a deal with the Chhattisgarh government on July 12, 2009 for setting up a 4,000 MW coal-fired power plant in the state, said officials.

July 11, 2009: The government's power capacity addition programme is hampered by delays in equipment supply from companies such as state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), the Power Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, said in Parliament.

July 11, 2009: Global majors, corporates and financial institutions have an 'India strategy', according to Ahmed AR Buhari, founder president and CEO, Coal and Oil Group of Companies. The company is putting up a 1,200-MW thermal power plant near Thoothukudi.

July 10, 2009: Sterlite Industries (India), the country's largest private sector power producer, is planning to invest Rs 20,000 crore over the next year to create additional capacity of 4,500 MW.

July 10, 2009: The current stock of coal at NTPC, India's biggest thermal power producer, presents a grim picture.

July 10, 2009: Essar Power, part of the Ruia family-controlled conglomerate, has firmed up plans to invest Rs 20,000 crore to scale up its power generation capacity - by 4,800 MW to 6,000 MW - in three years to cater to the growing demand for electricity in the country.

July 9, 2009: With the entry of private sector in coal mining, the government is mulling setting up of a regulatory body to ensure a level playing field for new entrants in the sector.

July 9, 2009: The Coal Ministry has asked Coal India (CIL) to issue notices to 19 power units - operated by companies such as Jubiliant Organosys, Aditya Aluminium International, Vidharba Power and Hindalco Industries - to show effective utilisation of coal allotted to them by the government.

July 8, 2009: The government has ruled out any possibility of putting a cap on the number of ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) allotted to a single player, citing legal impossibility in doing so.

July 8, 2009: Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Energy said it plans to set up a 3,200-MW super critical thermal power plant entailing an investment of Rs 15,000 crore at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.

July 8, 2009: Measures announced by the new government in its budget report for 2009-10 for the power sector will give a thrust to investments to the power industry.

July 8, 2009: After auto major Nissan, another Japanese MNC, Toshiba, is betting big on Tamil Nadu for boosting its power equipment business.

July 4, 2009: Indian Railways will shortly identify the joint venture partner for its proposed 1,000 MW thermal power

July 4, 2009: India has cancelled allocation of coal supplies to 25 private power companies for not setting up plants that can annually generate 1,292 megawatts, said the coal minister.

July 2, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) has shortlisted 10 parties for participating in tenders for extracting coal from abandoned mines. About 12 entities had shown interest.

July 1, 2009: The government is considering a proposal to allow duty-free imports of transmission equipment required for new projects.

July 1, 2009: India's power companies are hoping the federal budget will encourage the much-needed investments in the sector.

June 29, 2009: The Power Ministry plans to award three more ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) of 4,000 MW capacity each this fiscal, a move that will help ease the severe power shortages in many parts of the energy-starved country.

June 28, 2009: The Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) has roped in Pune-based World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE) to provide consultancy service on the development of renewable energy policy guidelines.

June 28, 2009: Around 4,500 MW of installed captive capacity in Gujarat is lying idle due to shortage of gas.

June 28, 2009: The Indian Railways plan to have another thermal power plant even as their Nabinagar project, to come up in a joint venture with country's largest power producer NTPC Ltd, has remained a non-starter.

June 27, 2009: Steel, cement or power companies that sit on captive coal mines will have to own a minimum 26 percent equity in their mining ventures, according to the new guidelines approved by the government for mining of coal from captive blocks.

June 26: Coal India Ltd (CIL) has rejected the bids of Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL), Sterlite Industries, Rajan Mining and Wenzhou Hongyuan Construction Co Ltd for developing its 18 abandoned and closed underground (UG) mines but has shortlisted a total of 10 firms for the purpose.

June 25, 2009: Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) has stayed the operation of the load restriction order issued by the Orissa Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (OPTCL) to restrict the drawing of industrial load up to 10 MW.

June 25, 2009: The government's decision to give fast track clearance to coal mining projects in degraded forests may help boost coal production but it bodes ill for the country's forest cover.

June 25, 2009: To fast track the implementation of coal mining projects deferred on account of environmental clearances or land acquisition problem, Union coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal asked for greater cooperation and support from state governments.

June 25, 2009: As a precursor to mobilising around Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP), Jaiprakash Power Venture Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd, is set to merge with Jaiprakash Hydro Power Ltd, a company listed on the Indian bourses.

June 25, 2009: The Centre has initiated work on setting up a regulatory body for the coal sector on a fast track basis.

June 24, 2009: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Coal India Ltd (CIL) are at advanced stages of acquiring mining assets in Mozambique, Indonesia and Australia, as the new government firms up plans to meet the growing energy demand.

June 22, 2009: State-run National Aluminium Co Ltd (Nalco) has added 120 MW capacity at its captive power plant under the ongoing second phase of expansion.

June 22, 2009: Worried about the dwindling coal stock at thermal power plants, Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) would take up the matter with Coal India Ltd (CIL).

June 21, 2009: The management of Neyveli Lignite Corporation, which has chalked out multi crore investment programme, does not see the row over disinvestment a big issue though the ruling Government has set its face against the Centre diluting its stake in core sector companies like NLC and Salem Steel plant.

June 21, 2009: Neyveli Lignite Corporation is in rapid expansion mode and has chalked out Rs 40,000 crore investment both in the mining and power generation sectors during the Eleventh and Twelfth plans. The 52 year old company is also venturing into new projects with fuels other than lignite.

June 21, 2009: Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) Ltd is not too happy with the cost-plus tariff fixation by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), as its depreciated plants fetch tariff that is much lower than what it could get from the market.

June 19, 2009: Ennore Coke Ltd, a domestic maker of coking coal, has finalised the annual coking coal contracts starting April 1 this year with its international suppliers Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), a joint venture of BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd.

June 18, 2009: To boost coal despatch to the beleaguered 3,000-MW NTPC Kaniha plant - which is reeling under acute coal crisis - authorities of the NTPC-linked Lingaraj coal mines at the Talcher Coalfields have decided to procure a surface miner on outsourcing.

June 18, 2009: In a bid to restart the disinvestment process, the government is planning to sell up to 10 percent of its stake in Coal India Ltd (CIL), the country's largest coal producer.

June 18, 2009: India should look at generating cheaper power and private companies need to collaborate with the department of atomic energy to manufacture equipment for this segment so that costs come down. This was the view of Atomic Energy Commission chairman and department of atomic energy secretary Anil Kakodkar.

June 18, 2009: Hindalco Industries is close to acquiring a coal mine in Queensland, Australia, in a deal estimated at $70 to $80 million (about Rs 336-385 crore).

June 17, 2009: The coal sector is set to open to private investment.

By Chandrika Bose

June 16, 2009: India's coking coal production in April 2009 stood at 2.692 million tons (mt), up by 34.3 percent compared to 2.004 mt produced in the corresponding month of the previous year, according to information available with Steel Insights. Production for the month was also 0.455 mt higher than last month's production which stood at 2.237 mt.

By Chandrika Bose

June 16, 2009: Coking coal imports through four major Indian ports in April 2009 stood at 1.414 million tons (mt), according to information available with Steel Insights.

By Chandrika Bose

June 16, 2009: Coking coal imports through 19 major and minor ports in India stood at 2.627 million tons (mt) in May this year, an increase of 0.602 mt over last month's imports, according to data compiled by Steel Insights.

By Arnab Mallick

June 15, 2009: After a hectic two months of action on the negotiation front, the coking coal market seemed to be taking a breather in May. After completion of the benchmark annual contract deals, players are busy getting set to actually deliver them.

June 15, 2009: Coke has always been a pain point for Indian industries, primarily for the domestic steel sector. Since coking coal is scarce in India, met coke availability poses a time constraint for the Indian steel industry.

June 14, 2009: NTPC is close to acquiring Jharkhand State Electricity Board's Patratu Thermal Power Station (PTPS).

June 11, 2009: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and BHP Billiton have finalised a long term contract for hard coking coal (various grades) at between $113 to $128 fob.

June 10, 2009: With Tata Power now in a position to sell 100 MW of power from its Trombay unit as merchant sales, the company's earnings for the current year should get a slight boost.

June 10, 2009: KSK Energy Ventures Ltd, a Hyderabad-based power project development company, has received consent from the Chhattisgarh government to enhance the power generation capacity of the Wardha Chhattisgarh power plant at Nariyara to 3,600 MW.

June 8, 2009: The government may allow commercial coal mining by private companies as it looks to plug the demand-supply gap in the sector, considered crucial to India's long-term energy security, according to an official in the Coal Ministry.

June 7, 2009: In a move that could boost India's plans for setting up power plants based on supercritical technology, the Tamil Nadu government has given its nod to the Toshiba-JSW joint venture for setting up a supercritical power equipment manufacturing facility near Chennai.

June 7, 2009: Commissioning of new projects and better mining efficiency pushed up the coal sector's growth in April to 13 percent, compared with 10.4 percent growth in the same month last year, according to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) figures released on Tuesday.

June 6, 2009: Suzlon Energy, the world's fifth largest turbine maker, has said it has completed the acquisition of Martifer Group's stake in REpower Systems AG, which now takes Suzlon's total shareholding in REpower to 90.72 percent.

June 5, 2009: India's largest met coke producer Gujarat NRE Coke has said it has made a Rs 53.21 crore bid to take over the Australian mining company Rey Resources, which termed the move as "unsolicited" and decided to oppose it.

June 3, 2009: Steel, cement and power companies are rushing to buy South African coal -- hitherto a premium commodity -- attracted by a sharp fall in prices.

June 2, 2009: Power minister Sushilkumar Shinde has said awarding multiple ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) to a single company was a cause for concern as it could lead to execution delays.

May 30, 2009: The government may consider hiking the prices of domestic coal, Sriprakash Jaiswal, the minister of state for coal (independent charge), said.

May 30, 2009: NTPC Ltd plans to invest Rs 550 billion ($12 billion) in the next three years, to add 24,000 MW of generation capacity, a top official has said.

May 30, 2009: NTPC Ltd and Coal India Ltd (CIL) will shortly enter into an agreement for launching a 50:50 joint venture for mining coal as well as setting up a 4,000 MW pit head power plant at Brahmani coal block near Rajmahal coalfields in Jharkhand.

May 30, 2009: GMR Infrastructure said that it has acquired Singapore-based power utility Island Power for an undisclosed amount.

May 27, 2009: Adani Group's power arm Adani Power Ltd (APL) has kicked off generation at the first unit of its 4,620 MW coal-based thermal power plant at Mundra.

May 27, 2009: Reliance Power is expected to earn more than Rs 4,000 crore over the next 10 years by selling carbon credits from its upcoming Sasan power project in Madhya Pradesh.

May 26, 2009: Coal India (CIL) may need to hike coal prices by at least 13 percent if it has to take up all its proposed expansion projects and retain its earlier profit trends in 2009-10.

May 26, 2009: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) has secured an order of Rs 703 crore for the main plant package at the upcoming Bela Thermal Power Project in Maharashtra, involving one new rating unit of 270 MW.

May 24, 2009: Use of new generation technology, enforcement of stricter pollution control norms and a marked improvement in efficiency of the power generation sector requiring an assured supply of low-ash coal in much larger volumes than ever before, may finally offer some breathing space for Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), the ailing subsidiary of Coal India Ltd.

May 24, 2009: Essar Energy is planning to raise a debt of Rs 400 crore to fund its project to produce gas found on coal beds, called coal bed methane (CBM) in its Raniganj block in West Bengal.

May 23, 2009: Power production at the seven thermal power stations of Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Ltd (Mahagenco) has dipped by about 8 percent since March due to problems in quality of coal.

May 23, 2009: More of the thermal power stations of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) have developed snags.

May 23, 2009: NTPC Ltd, India's largest power generator, has posted a 57.7 percent rise in net profit for the quarter ended March 2009 at the back of increased power generation, owing to fresh capacity addition.

May 21, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) Chairman P S Bhattacharyya on May 21 said the company may not be able to report enough profit in 2009-10 to take up new projects and continue paying dividend to government unless it increases coal prices.

May 21, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL), the world's single largest coal producing company, on May 21 reported 2008-09 profit before tax and dividend of Rs 4238.58 crore, showing a fall of 51.42 percent over Rs 8738.46 crore recorded in 2007-08.

May 20, 2009: Metal producers are selling their surplus power to compensate the losses from production cuts due to slowing of demand.

May 19, 2009: Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) has increased supply of power to the state grid.

May 19, 2009: Gujarat NRE Coke plans to ramp up production at its two Australian coking coal mines from 0.8 million tons (mt) in 2008-09 to 2 mt this fiscal.

May 18, 2009: The not-so-bright prospects of iron ore exports through Paradip and Visakhapatnam ports might force East Coast Railway (ECoR) to depend more on coal traffic.

May 16, 2009: State-run Coal India is likely to award the turnkey contracts for its Rs 2,500-crore project to develop seven underground mines with an estimated reserve of 400 million tonnes in six months, a top company official said.

May 15, 2009: Adani Power is targeting commissioning of the first 330-MW unit of the proposed 4,620 MW coal-based Mundra thermal power plant by next week.

May 15, 2009: Government-owned power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) has bagged an order worth Rs 1,475 crore for a 600-MW thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh.

May 14, 2009: The row over the Sasan ultra mega power project refuses to subside.

May 12, 2009: GMR Energy, a subsidiary of Bangalore-based infrastructure company GMR Infrastructure Ltd, will set up a 2,000-MW thermal power plant near a port on the west coast.

May 12, 2009: Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) has decided to raise Rs 2,000 crore from the debt market in order to fund the first phase of the proposed 500-MW Bokaro A super critical project.

May 11, 2009: JSW Energy is planning to invest Rs 8,000 crore to build two thermal power projects of a combined capacity of over 2,000 MW in Chhattisgarh and Orissa in the current fiscal year.

May 9, 2009: Coal-starved thermal power generation utilities will give incentives to Coal India by making extra payment to it for supplying the dry fuel to them more than the minimum threshold level.

May 8, 2009: Peabody Energy announced that the company has entered into a renegotiated agreement to create a 50-50 joint venture with Polo Resources Limited's Mongolian coal interests.

May 8, 2009: Companies may soon get all necessary government approvals when they are allotted new coal blocks, thus saving them five years of red tape.

May 7, 2009: Industrial Energy - a joint venture between Tata Power and Tata Steel - has commissioned a 1x120 MW power house 6 at Jamshedpur.

May 6, 2009: Naveen Jindal-led Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) is in advanced talks with New South Wales-based mining firm Hudson Resources to form a joint venture (JV) for exploration and mining of coking coal in Australia, said a person who is mediating in the proposed venture.

May 4, 2009: Engineering major Siemens Ltd, has recently secure an order worth Rs1380 crore from Adani Power.

May 4, 2009: International Coal Ventures Ltd (ICVL); an SPV created by five PSU majors including Coal India and SAIL may bid for a coal block in Mozambique this month.

May 2, 2009: Naveen Jindal-led Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) is in advanced talks with New South Wales

May 2, 2009: Reliance Power, an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) company, may not get its full quota of coal

May 2, 2009: Power Trading Corporation said that its net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009,

April 30, 2009: Anglo American lowered its production in the quarter ended March 31, 2009 against the previous quarter. Demand for Eskom coal was down and this prompted a 10.9 percent decrease in output from the previous quarter.

April 30, 2009: Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL), a part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG), has decided to procure six ships by the next quarter to transport coal from international destinations to India for its proposed 4,000-MW ultra mega power project (UMPP) in Krishnapatnam.

April 28, 2009: Bhushan Energy Ltd (BEL), which is setting up a 2,000-MW power plant near Angul at an investment of Rs 8,483 crore, will supply 150 MW power to the state grid.

By Neha Prasad

April 28, 2009: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has always prided itself on keeping one step ahead of the national average. At a time when coal shortage is affecting power generation across the domestic power segment, NTPC has once again posted figures to prove itself the leader in this financial year.

By Lokenath Tiwary

April 28, 2009: National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC) plans to set up power projects in Kazakhstan so that it is able to import coal from that country for its power plants.

By Arusha Das

April 28, 2009: The public sector coal mining firm Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) beating the heat of recession posted excellent figures for the fiscal 2008-2009 once again exceeding its targeted production. This is the seventh consecutive year that the company surpassed its production targets after its turnaround since 2002-03.

April 28, 2009: Navratna company Coal India Ltd's (CIL) focus in response to India's growing demand for coal to meet its energy generation target has led to an impressive 6.39 percent increase in production in 2008-09.

April 28, 2009: Even as coal production at Talcher coalfield under Mahandi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) reached 57.5 million tons (mt) in the last financial year, a separate coal company for the region remains a distant possibility.

April 27, 2009: Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Energy is close to acquiring a sub-Saharan African thermal coal mine, which has reserves of more than 200 million tons, to minimise dependence on other overseas companies, said a person with direct knowledge of the development.

April 26, 2009: Public sector NHPC, a hydroelectric power producer, has decided to spread its wings nationally in the thermal power business, a move that will put it into direct competition with larger peer NTPC, the country's biggest power producer.

April 25, 2009: Oil exploration major ONGC has said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Uranium Corporation of India for sub-surface exploration of uranium.

April 25, 2009: Property developer Indiabulls Real Estate has said its board had approved a plan to raise $600 million (Rs 3,000 crore) through qualified institutional placement (QIP) of securities.

April 24, 2009: Some 36 percent of India's thermal power stations are facing an acute fuel problem and are operating on coal stocks of less than a week, coinciding with the summers.

April 24, 2009: NHPC, the country's largest hydroelectric power producer, has registered a 4.6 percent increase in net profit for the year ended March 31, 2009.

April 23, 2009: NTPC, India's largest power producer, plans to cash in on its decades-old experience in handling coal mines by spinning off a separate unit that will offer consultancy and mining services to companies which have been allotted captive mines.

April 22, 2009: Reliance Power (R-Power), part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) has announced financial closure for its Rs 19,400-crore ultra mega power project at Sasan in Madhya Pradesh.

April 22, 2009: The Bombay High Court has issued a notice to Adani Group for mining coal in 1,750 hectares at Lohara village in Chandrapur district closely located to buffer zone of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve.

April 21, 2009: India's state-run power companies are furiously fuelling growth in the transmission sector but find slack generation capacity addition a hurdle, industry officials and analysts said.

April 20, 2009: A spot deal of 90,000 tons for delivery in fourth quarter of 2009 was realized on April 16, 2009 at Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL at $70 per ton fob.

April 20, 2009: The weekly index price at DES ARA Index of globalCOAL recorded a slip in the week ended on April 17, 2009.

April 20, 2009: The Richards Bay Index price for thermal coal for delivery within July 2009 witnessed a small decline in the week ended on April 17, 2009.

April 20, 2009: Newcastle weekly index price in the week ended on April 17, 2009 for delivery within July 2009 dipped marginally by 0.18 percent over the last week's level.

April 19, 2009: Power Grid Corporation India Ltd (PGCIL) may not be able to fully utilise its Rs 55,000-crore capex for the Eleventh Plan due to delays in setting up some of the hydro and ultra mega power projects, said S. Majumdar, Director (Projects), PGCIL.

April 18, 2009: Power Finance Corporation (PFC) is looking to expand its focus on funding of power equipment manufacturing capacities and coal mining activities from this fiscal.

April 18, 2009: Lanco Infratech Ltd (LITL) has firmed up plans to make up to Rs 15,000 crore capital investments in the power sector during 2009-10.

April 18, 2009: BEML's Brazilian production facility has got going and will be the platform for the promising Latin American mining market, the defence PSU announced.

April 17, 2009: Power generation in the country received a boost, with Bhel-built thermal sets generating over 4 percent more power in fiscal 2008-09, compared to the previous fiscal.

April 17, 2009: Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has extended the date for submission of request for qualification (RFQ) for the 2,640-MW coal-based Gidderbaha thermal power project due to non-allocation of coal linkages for the project.

April 17, 2009: Bhatia Coal India, a subsidiary of the Bhatia International Group, terminated a coal supply contract with traders Vitol and has initiated arbitration proceedings to settle a payment dispute, according to Bhatia officials.

April 16, 2009: Ennore Coke Ltd, a domestic manufacturer of metallurgical coke, is looking to acquire 90 percent in Broughton coal mines of Australia, valued at about $12 million and having estimated reserves of 30 million tons (mt) of coking coal.

April 16, 2009: Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Energy will invest Rs 5,000 crore in power projects of 1,200 MW capacity during the current financial year.

April 16, 2009: At a time when most companies are straining to remain profitable, Peabody delivered higher year-over-year revenues in the first quarter of 2009.

April 15, 2009: German semis producer Hüttenwerke Krupp-Mannesmann (HKM) has decided not to go ahead with expansion at its coking plant.

April 14, 2009: Aiming to increase its annual drilling capacity to 1 million metres by the end of 2010-11 with an estimated Rs 500 crore, Coal India Ltd (CIL) will outsource a part of its drilling work.

April 14, 2009: The Centre plans to set up two new ultra mega power plants (UMPPs) in Orissa. Those projects are proposed to come up closer to the sea and will have a generating capacity of 4,000-MW each. The state will get 50 percent of the power generated from the two new UMPPs.

April 14, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL), the country's largest coal producer, would be participating in the 'Coal Prep' trade show this year, to be held in the US.

April 14, 2009: The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Tata Power, challenging the government's decision to allow Reliance Power (RPL) to divert excess coal from captive mines of Sasan power project to its other power projects.

April 13, 2009: The weekly index price at DES ARA Index of globalCOAL recorded a growth in the week ended April 10, 2009.

April 13, 2009: The Richards Bay Index price for thermal coal for delivery within July 2009 witnessed a marginal hike in the week ended on April 10, 2009.

April 13, 2009: Newcastle weekly index price in the week ended on April 10, 2009 for delivery within July 2009 dipped by 4.09 percent over the last week's level.

April 12, 2009: In an attempt to cut down the delays in power projects caused by the lack of a proper equipment testing facility in India, the power ministry has got four Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to form a joint venture to set up a domestic testing facility.

April 12, 2009: For nearly nine months now, the global coal market has been languishing with weak demand, limited supply-side response and prices staying above most producers' operating costs.

April 12, 2009: China could play an important role in helping India achieve its targeted 100,000 MW electricity generation capacity by 2012, according to Mao Siwei, Chinese Consul General.

April 10, 2009: Tata Steel has negotiated coking coal contracts for 2009-10 at $129 per ton fob.

April 10, 2009: The country's biggest capital goods firm, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has something to cheer about in the midst of the economic slowdown as it has received new orders worth Rs 59,700 crore during the year ended March 31, 2009. This is its highest in a year and 20 percent more than the previous fiscal.

April 10, 2009: Faced with the problem of coal off take especially during the last quarter of any fiscal (January-March) owing to inadequate availability of rakes from the Indian Railways, Coal India Limited (CIL) has directed its eight subsidiaries to prepare a list of their respective rake requirement for different periods of the year.

April 10, 2009: The meltdown may reduce the actual cost of Damodar Valley Corporation's (DVC) 4,700-MW coal-based thermal capacity addition projects by Rs 1,000 crore.

April 10, 2009: National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), the largest power generating company in India plans to add 3,300 MW of power in 2009-10.

April 10, 2009: Fresh power capacity addition has fallen short of target by over a half in the year 2008-09, because of the delay in supply of critical components in thermal projects and non-availability of fuel.

April 10, 2009: The installed capacity of the Captive Generating Plants (CGPs) in Orissa is set to increase by more than 400 MW by the end of the current year.

April 10, 2009: Encouraged by the softening prices of coking coal in the international market, Ennore Coke Limited, a domestic manufacturer of metallurgical coke is close to securing its annual long-term contract of coking coal beginning April 1 this year with its international suppliers.

April 9, 2009: Three spot deals were realised on April 7 at the physical thermal coal market of globalCOAL.

April 9, 2009: The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government and Coal India Ltd (CIL) have reached an agreement that will pave the way for relocation of four big ticket projects.

April 9, 2009: Two spot deals were realised on April 7 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.

April 8, 2009: Six ARA (DES) deals of ACPRS (Australian, Colombian, Polish, Russian and South African) coal were realized on April 6, 2009, at the physical thermal coal market of globalCOAL.

April 8, 2009: Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd is going forward with its development and production plans in Australia as scheduled. It also intends to expand its production base in India.

April 8, 2009: Coal exports from South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) increased by nearly 4 percent to 4,848,649 tons during March 2009, as per data released by the Tex Report.

April 8, 2009: Three spot deals were realized on April 6, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL.

April 8, 2009: Two spot deals of 35,000 tons each for delivery in June 2009 were realized on April 6, 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL at $64.25 per ton fob.

Aapril 7, 2009: Two spot deals were realized on April 3, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market (Physical RB) of globalCOAL.

Aapril 7, 2009: Four physical ARA (DES) deals (delivered at Amsterdam/Rotterdam) of C (Colombian) coal were realized on April 3, 2009 at the physical thermal coal market of globalCOAL.

April 7, 2009: A spot deal of 180,000 tons for delivery in 2010 was realized on April 3, 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market to be loaded at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL, at $77 per ton fob.

April 5, 2009: Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), the flagship company of Coal India Ltd (CIL), has posted 9.46 per cent growth in coal production in 2008-09 (FY09), outpacing the 7 per cent growth recorded by its parent company, CIL.

April 4, 2009: Singareni Collieries Co Ltd announced it has outperformed the coal production target by 9.7 per cent, registering production of 44.54 million tonnes (mt) during 2008-09. The colliery had targeted output of 41.50 mt last fiscal.

April 3, 2009: The Mozambique coal block allotted recently to Coal India Ltd (CIL) is likely to go into production over the next two to three years.

April 1, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL), the world's single largest coal producing company, has recruited a total of 320 management and engineering trainees through campus recruitment during the financial year 2008-09.

April 1, 2009: Areva T&D India, the Rs 2600-crore transmission and distribution division of France-based Areva SA, inaugurated a high-voltage manufacturing site at Padappai, near Chennai, as part of its all India expansion plans.

April 1, 2009: Operators of power grids of all state power utilities across the country will have to abide by a more stringent frequency range as notified by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), or face severe penal measures, from April 1.

March 31, 2009: State-owned mining giant NMDC would soon join hands with South Africa's Kopanao Ke Metla Investment Company for acquiring coal, iron ore and manganese properties in African nations.

March 31, 2009: CESC Ltd, the flagship company of the Kolkata-based RPG Group, expects to complete land acquisition for its proposed 1,000-MW coal-based power plant at Neulapoi in Orissa's Dhenkanal district within three months.

March 31, 2009: Four companies -- Sophia Power (in which L.N. Mittal is an investor), Adani Power, KSK Power and Monnet Ispat -- are in the race for participating in NMDC's thermal coal venture.

March 31, 2009: Tata Power Company (TPC), India's largest private power utility, has commercialised the 250-MW unit 8 of its Trombay Thermal Power Station in Chembur near Mumbai.

March 28, 2009: Coal India expects to invite tenders for extracting coal from underground mines by June 2009. It has already concluded a few rounds of pre-NIT (notice for inviting tenders) meetings, and has sent pre-NITs to all the nine shortlisted parties.

March 28, 2009: Vale has launched a $1.3bn (£908.5m) coal mining project in Mozambique which will make it the second-largest coal producer in Africa.

March 26, 2009: ArcelorMittal Poland has indefinitely postponed renovation of the closed blast furnace No. 3 at its Krakow plant.

March 26, 2009: UK in 2008 witnessed a growth of 5.3 percent in its coal production and reached 17.91 million tons mark compared to the production figure in 2007.

March 26, 2009: Three spot deals of 90,000 tons each for delivery in the third quarter 2009 were realized on March 24, 2009, at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL, all at $64 per ton fob.

March 26, 2009: A spot deal of 300,000 tons for delivery in 2010 was realized on March 24, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL at $77 per ton fob.

March 26, 2009: Japan's integrated mills and Australia's BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance has managed a compromise of sorts in its coal price settlements.

March 25, 2009: PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) of Indonesia during 2008 sold around 7.97 million tons (mt) of coal in the domestic market, up by 19.1 percent from the domestic sales' figures during 2007.

March 25, 2009: PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) of Indonesia witnessed a rise in its coal production in 2008.

March 25, 2009: PT Berau Coal of Indonesia during 2008 sold a total of around 4.91 million tons (mt) of coal in the domestic market. This is 11.2 percent more than the sales quantum during 2007.

March 25, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) is going ahead with implementation of the demonstration scheme for coal bed methane (CBM) and coal mine methane (CMM) in two separate coal blocks of Bharat Coking Coal.

March 25, 2009: PT Berau Coal of Indonesia produced 12.92 million tons of coal during calendar year 2008 which moved up by 9.4 percent compared to the corresponding period last year. According to Tex Report data, the company produced 11.81 million tons in 2007.

Source: Coal Insights Bureau

March 25, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) expects the exploration of coal block for its proposed coal gasification project in joint venture with Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to be done within 18 months.

March 25, 2009: On March 23, 2009 at physical thermal coal market of globalCOAL, two ARA DES deals of ACPRS (Australian, Colombian, Polish, Russian and South African) coal were realized.

March 25, 2009: The South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL witnessed settlement of four spot deals on March 23, 2009.

March 25, 2009: NTPC may soon get to allocate an additional 15 percent output from its new projects to the home state where the plant is located, a power ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

March 25, 2009: Six spot deals were realized on March 23, 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.

March 24, 2009: India's first coal project being taken up in a public-private partnership (PPP) mode is expected to begin production by the middle of next year.

March 24, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) continues to grapple with inadequate supply of rakes by Indian Railways, which has hit the firm's coal offtake, especially during the second half of this fiscal.

March 24, 2009: State-owned Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) will invite fresh tenders for upgrading its 6-MW power plant to 20 MW at Kothagudem in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh. The project is estimated to cost about Rs 100 crore.

March 24, 2009: A spot deal of 150,000 tons of ACPRS (Australian, Colombian, Polish, Russian and South African) coal for delivery in the fourth quarter 2009 was realized on March 24, 2009 at the physical thermal coal market of globalCOAL at $68.60 per ton.

March 24, 2009: Six spot deals of 75,000 tons each were realized on March 20, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL.

March 24, 2009: Two spot deals for delivery in June 2009 were realized on March 20, 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.

March 23, 2009: The weekly index price at DES ARA Index of globalCOAL sustained its growth even in the week ended on March 20, 2009.

March 23, 2009: The Richards Bay Index price for thermal coal for delivery within June 2009 witnessed a hike in the week ended on March 20, 2009.

March 23, 2009: Indicating a fluctuating trend, Newcastle weekly index price in the week ended March 20, 2009 for delivery within June 2009, dipped by 2.89 percent over the last week's level.

March 22, 2009: The impasse over signing of fuel supply agreement (FSA) between NTPC and Coal India Ltd has been resolve and the FSA will be signed shortly.

March 22, 2009: The impasse over signing of fuel supply agreement (FSA) between NTPC and Coal India Ltd has been resolve and the FSA will be signed shortly.

March 21, 2009: The domestic power sector is all geared to meet the annual capacity addition targets said power secretary, V.S. Sampath.

March 21, 2009: With the aim to increase fuel availability for power plants in the country, the government has revised upwards the coal import target by 40 percent to 35 million tons (mt) for the next fiscal, even as the coal ministry claims that India has sufficient coal to meet its needs.

March 21, 2009: The Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is importing coking coal at a price of $150 a ton, informed industry sources told ICMW on March 20. However, SAIL officials could not be contacted for comments.

March 20, 2009: Adani Power may take the first step towards power generation from its proposed 4,620-MW thermal power plant at Mundra next week.

March 19, 2009: The government will award three more ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) of 4,000 MW capacity each in the next financial year.

March 20, 2009: Coal consumers across the country sourcing from Coal India Ltd (CIL) through the e-auction mode are sore over the recent rise in earnest money deposit (EMD) for procurement of coal and the bulk transport of e-auction coal through the road route, which has pushed up the cost of the raw material.

March 20, 2009: Project work at four large power plants has resumed. The companies have placed increased orders with their suppliers and vendors, raising them to pre-October levels, mainly as they see no point in suspending onsite work.

March 20, 2009: Ramsarup Industries bagged orders worth Rs 164 crore for the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) electrification work from the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co.

March 19, 2009: South Korean coal imports stood at 7.29 million tons (mt) in February 2009, down by 4.1 percent at an average price of $118.19 per ton cif, up by 41.9 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

March 19, 2009: Coal coke exports by USA saw a decline of 6.63 percent during January 2009 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

March 19, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) expects to complete the tendering process for revival and development of the abandoned coal mines, having reserves of about 1.6 billion tons, by the end of 2009-10.

March 19, 2009: At a time when companies are finding it difficult to raise funds, an IDFC group company is investing Rs 350 crore in Essar Power to part-finance the latter's ongoing expansion projects.

March 19, 2009: Operators in the mining and metals industry have enjoyed an unprecedented boom over the past decade as China, India and other rapidly-developing economies sought to modernise their infrastructure and a rising middle class was able to afford cars and other metals intensive goods for the first time.

March 18, 2009: United States imported a total of 1.12 million tons (mt) of coal at an average price of $74.36 per ton cif in January 2009.

March 18, 2009: Straits Resources Ltd. of Australia has set its expected coal production at 9 million tons (mt) to 9.5 mt in the calendar year 2009, which would help the company register a hike of 5 to 10 percent compared to the previous year. The company produced 8.58 mt of coal during the calendar year 2008.

March 18, 2009: China produced 24.23 million tons of coal coke in February 2009, down by 3 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

March 18, 2009: A spot deal of 50,000 tons for delivery in April 2009 was realized on March 16, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL at $55 per ton fob.

March 17, 2009: Exports of thermal and coking coal from Australia's New South Wales (NSW), Newcastle Port have increased by 1.4 percent during January 2009 as compared to the corresponding period in 2008, as per the data released in a recent Tex Report.

March 17, 2009: Taiwan imported coking coal at $255.52 per ton cif in the month of January 2009.

March 17, 2009: China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd. recorded a growth of 1.4 percent in its saleble coal production in February 2009 compared to the corresponding period last year. The company produced 15 million tons of saleble coal during the month.

March 17, 2009: Coal coke exports by China stood at 0.074 million tons during January 2009 at an average price of $372.7 per ton fob.

March 17, 2009: A physical deal of ACPRS (Australian, Colombian, Polish, Russian and South African) coal deal was realized on March 13, 2009 at the market of globalCOAL, ARA (DES) at $57.65 per ton.

March 17, 2009: National Thermal Power Corporation has given technical approval for the establishment of a coal-based thermal power plant at Kudagi in Basavanabagewadi taluk of Bijapur district.

March 17, 2009: Tata Power Company, India's largest private power utility, may be the first firm to divest part of its shareholding in an ultra mega power project (UMPP) to finance capacity additions of 5,660 MW.

March 17, 2009: Tata Power Company has set to rest speculation that it was trying to sell its stake in two Indonesian coal mines owned by PT Bumi Resources.

By Chandrika Bose

March 16, 2009: India's coking coal production in January 2009 stood at 3.29 million tons (mt), down by 4.98 percent compared with 3.46 mt produced in the corresponding month of the previous year, according to information available with Steel Insights.

March 16, 2009: Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), the second largest subsidiary of Coal India (CIL), is yet to introduce outsourcing of overburden removal work in five targeted open cast mines due to opposition by the workers trade unions, mainly in the Ib valley area.

March 16, 2009: Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel has initiated talks with an Australian mining firm to form a joint venture (JV) for exploration and mining of coking coal in Queensland, Australia, according to a person mediating in the proposed venture.

March 16, 2009: The weekly index price at DES ARA Index of globalCOAL moved up in the week ended on March 13, 2009.

March 16, 2009: The Richards Bay Index price for thermal coal for delivery within June 2009 witnessed a decline in the week ended on March 13, 2009.

March 16, 2009: Newcastle weekly index price in the week ended March 13, 2009 for delivery within June 2009, moved up marginally by 0.64 percent over the last week's level.

March 15, 2009: Ilyich Iron & Steel Works has called for an open price calculation of iron ore and coking coal during the steel market slump.

March 15, 2009: Japanese mills are not considering a pricing deal between Posco and some Australian suppliers of low-volatile PCI coal as the benchmark for 2009.

March 15, 2009: NMDC is set to enter into a joint venture with Kopano Ke Matla Investment Company - the investment arm of South Africa's largest trade union federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) - for acquiring manganese, coal and iron ore blocks in South Africa.

March 15, 2009: India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) has said it will raise $250 million (about Rs 1,250 crore) from the overseas market for funding seven projects, including Reliance Power Sasan power project and Tata Power's Mundra power project.

March 14, 2009: With days to go for a fresh round of negotiations for annual global price contracts, domestic mining majors like NMDC, Sesa Goa and a host of other iron ore miners are keeping an eagle eye on the situation.

March 13, 2009: China exported only 30,000 tons of coke in February, against the usual 1 million tons per month levels.

March 13, 2009: In its first acquisition of an overseas coal block, Coal India (CIL) has been allocated two blocks at Moatize (in Tete Province) of Mozambique.

March 12, 2009: The Rihand Project of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is all set to expand in the next financial year, under which two units of 500 MW each are likely to be installed.

March 11, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) expects to complete the tendering process for setting up 15 new washeries in its different subsidiaries on a build, operate and maintain basis by the end of 2009-10.

March 10, 2009: PT Bayan Resources Tbk of Indonesia has announced that it plans to expand its coal production to 9.5 million tons (mt) in the calendar year 2009 by expanding its existing coal mines and adopting few other measures.

March 10, 2009: A spot deal of 50,000 tons for delivery in April 2009 was realized on March 5, 2009, at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL, at $57 per ton fob.

March 10, 2009: A physical deal of C (Colombian) coal for delivery in April 2009 was realized on March 5, 2009, at the physical thermal coal market of globalCOAL, ARA (DES) deal (delivered at Amsterdam/ Rotterdam) at $56.50 per ton.

March 10, 2009: A spot deal of 15,000 tons for delivery in May 2009 was realized on March 5, 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL, at $61.50 per ton FOB.

March 10, 2009: The Planning Commission has once again raised doubts over achieving the targeted power capacity addition of over 78,000 MW planned in the current Plan period (2007-2012).

March 9, 2009: Coal India (CIL) has bagged mineral concessions for two mining blocks in Mozambique. The two virgin mining blocks - spread over 200 square km - could be possessing between 500 million tons and 1 billion tons of thermal and coking coal.

March 7, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) is targeting imports of 6 million tons (mt) of coal in the next financial year.

March 6, 2009: The Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL) is likely to get mini-ratna status very soon.

March 6, 2009: Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) is weighing options to pick up stakes in various projects slated in the state. The mining major is eying 26 percent stake each in 14 different projects to be set up by leading companies.

March 6, 2009: The Planning Commission's proposal to hike the quantum of coal sold through e-auction to 20 percent of total production, from the current level of 10 percent, seems overambitious.

March 6, 2009: Coal India (CIL) would negotiate the tender document with prospective bidders for development of its seven identified underground mines on March 7.

March 6, 2009: Grid Corporation of Orissa (Gridco) plans to purchase about 400 to 500 MW of surplus power from the captive power plants (CPPs). This will help ensure uninterrupted supply of power to consumers and tide over any possible shortage in the state over the next four months.

March 6, 2009: The global slowdown has taken a toll on those who import coal and has, in the process, shifted the balance of power in favour of domestic buyers.

March 5, 2009: Mahanadi Coalfield (MCL) - under Coal India (CIL) - has revised its coal output target for the current year downwards, on the basis of achievement made till date, which hovers below expectations.

March 5, 2009: BEML Ltd has entered into an agreement with Indonesia's Sumber Mitra Jaya to bid jointly for contract mining business in India.

March 5, 2009: India has sought investment and expertise from Canada - a global leader in mining - and asked its firms to exploit rich resources in Orissa and Chhattisgarh, saying the sector was poised for big growth.

March 4, 2009: The Tata-Sasol joint venture and Jindal Steel & Power have been awarded a coal block each for the coal-to-liquid (CTL) project, entailing an investment of $18 billion.

March 4, 2009: The Centre may soon open doors for commercial coal mining by allowing joint ventures (JVs) between private and state-run companies.

March 3, 2009: NTPC's Solapur Thermal Power Project is expected to be commissioned in 2013.

March 3, 2009: Two spot deals were realized on February 27, 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.

March 3, 2009: A spot deal of 50,000 tons for delivery in April 2009 was realized on February 27, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL, at $58.25 fob.

March 2, 2009: Coal consuming sectors may need separate agreements with logistics providers for ensuring smooth supplies of coal.

March 2, 2009: Work has commenced at NLC Tamil Nadu Power's (NTPL) 1,000-MW (2x500 MW) coal-fired thermal project at Tuticorin.

March 1, 2009: With India's power requirement likely to touch 8,00,000 MW by 2031-32, the country would require an investment of Rs 6,00,000 crore, said finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

February 28, 2009: GMR Group, which has completed two major acquisitions of coalfields in Indonesia and South Africa recently, is on the lookout for possible sites in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa to set up power plants.

February 28, 2009: Invensys Process Systems (IPS), a global technology, software and consulting firm, is executing 15,000 MW of thermal power projects in India, informed a top company official.

February 27, 2009: Ennore Coke Ltd, a domestic manufacturer of metallurgical coke, is negotiating with its global coking coal suppliers - like Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton - to secure an annual long-term contract at $140 to $150 per ton.

February 27, 2009: Hyderabad-based Lanco Kondapalli has emerged as the front runner for the proposed 1,980-MW thermal power plant at Bara in Allahabad district.

February 27, 2009: Three spot deals were realized on February 25, 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL all for delivery in April 2009.

February 27, 2009: Japan is targeting the Indian market for a clean coal technology pilot project, set up by the New Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO).

February 26, 2009: Harbin Power of China will supply the boiler, turbine and generator for Coastal Energen Pvt Ltd's 1,200-MW coal-based power project at Tuticorin.

February 26, 2009: GMR Energy has taken over 100 percent of Barasentosa Lestari PT, an Indonesian coal mining company, for $80 million.

February 25, 2009: GMR Infrastructure is close to acquiring an Indonesian coal mine, with which it has been carrying on negotiations for some time.

February 25, 2009: Coke exports by Russia in the calendar year 2008 witnessed a drop of 4.8 percent and reached a little above 3 million tons compared to the corresponding period last year.

February 25, 2009: Russia's coal exports in the calendar year 2008 saw a marginal dip of 0.6 percent to 97.44 million tons from exports in previous calendar year. Out of that, coking coal exports from this country during the period reached 13.61 million tons, up by 2.4 percent.

February 25, 2009: The Planning Commission has asked Coal India (CIL) to double the amount of coal it sells online.

February 25, 2009: Grid Corporation of Orissa (Gridco) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) for supply of 150 MW power per day to tide over the shortage in the state.

February 25, 2009: Two spot deals were realized on February 23, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL.

February 24, 2009: In December 2008 coal exports from Australia's Newcastle Port declined by about 0.6 percent to 8,383,034 tons as compared to 8,383,034 tons exported during December 2007 revealed recent Tex Report data.

By Sarbani Haldar

February 24, 2009: January proved to be an eventful month for thermal coal as prices continued to fluctuate after recovering from its low levels in December. Thermal coal prices remained low for the initial days of the month only to recover in the middle of the month after which it slid again.

February 24, 2009: Taiwan's coal supply in the calendar year 2008 was recorded at 63.84 million tons, down by 2.1percent. Consumption slipped as well and was recorded at 62.81 million tons, down by 3.9 percent from the corresponding period last year, due to the global meltdown.

February 24, 2009: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and other power utilities will probably miss their coal import target of 20 million tons (mt) this fiscal, due to a delay in placement of orders and renegotiation of prices with buyers.

February 24, 2009: Coking coal (excluding semi-soft coking coal etc.) imports by Taiwan remained at 4.75 million tons during the calendar year 2008, up by 6.1 percent compared to the imports in the previous year.

February 24, 2009: Taiwan witnessed a dip of 4.6 percent in its thermal coal imports in the calendar year 2008 and reached 53.11 million tons compared to the imports in the previous year.

February 24, 2009: The differences between Coal India (CIL) and power companies over the trigger point clause in fuel supply agreements (FSAs) has finally been resolved by minister of power for state Jairam Ramesh.

February 24, 2009: Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said Madhya Pradesh would not be able to ensure uninterrupted power supply due to the Centre "deliberately" reducing supply of coal.

February 24, 2009: Eastern Coalfields (ECL) plans to invest about Rs 250 crore in expanding production capacity at its Rajmahal mines in Jharkhand from 11 million tons (mt) to 17 mt. The bulk of the increased volume is likely to be consumed by NTPC's power generation stations at Farakka and Kahelgaon.

February 24, 2009: Anglo American is likely to complete three of its coal projects by March 2009.

February 23, 2009: The 3000 MW Kaniha super thermal power plant of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has been operating at more than 100 per cent plant load factor for last two months as against the average PLF of 90 per cent for all NTPC operated plants in the country.

February 23, 2009: With the hydropower sector in the state taking a beating following the suspension of three major hydel projects, the Uttarakhand government is now pulling out all the stops to revive the stalled power plants.

February 23, 2009: Coal spot prices at DES ARA Index of globalCOAL slumped in the week ended on February 20, 2009.

February 23, 2009: The spot price of coal for delivery within May 2009 in Richards Bay Index witnessed a significant decline in the week ended on February 20, 2009.

February 23, 2009: Coal spot price in the week ended on February 20, 2009 in Newcastle Index for delivery within May 2009 dipped by around 4.9 percent over the last week's prices.

February 23, 2009: The government is not in favour of the proposed competitive bidding route for allocating reserves for certain projects.

February 23, 2009: Reliance Power plans to double the capacity of its coal-based Butibori power project to 600 MW. The fast-track project is expected to go on stream by 2011.

February 22, 2009: The Coal Ministry's bid finalisation process for the first domestic coal-to liquid project has come to a stop over the Law Ministry's suggestion to invite fresh bids if the government is interested in profit-sharing.

February 22, 2009: US Steel plans to hot-idle coke ovens its Granite City sheet works in Illinois over the next three weeks.

February 21, 2009: Tata Power Ltd is unlikely to bid for any more large power projects.

February 21, 2009: JSW Steel is seeking 66 percent lower rates for coking coal from global suppliers, at $100 per ton, in an effort to ease input cost pressures.

February 20, 2009: The law ministry has suggested that the government should invite fresh bids from companies interested in coal-to-liquid (CTL) projects if it is interested in profit-sharing.

February 20, 2009: RPG flagship CESC Ltd, which is setting up a 1,000 MW greenfield thermal station in Jharkhand, has restarted negotiations with local villagers to acquire project land near Dumka.

February 19, 2009: Chinese construction and mining equipment maker Guangxi Liugong Machinery Company Ltd (LiuGong) will probably begin commercial production by June.

February 19, 2009: The government is confident of meeting the Eleventh Plan's power capacity addition target, which has been revised to 80,000 MW, from 78,577 MW.

February 19, 2009: There has been a 33 percent increase in Australia's Gloucester Coal reserves at its open cut mines in the northern Hunter Valley region. This brings complete reserves to 38 million tons (mt), with 40 percent semi-hard coking coal and the balance thermal.

February 18, 2009: A major coking coal deposit in Mongolia has reportedly caught the eye of Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale.

February 18, 2009: Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) has not accepted any of the bids received from four power companies for supply on a long-term basis.

February 18, 2009: Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) has decided to establish two 1,000-MW greenfield thermal power plants at a total cost of Rs 7,000 crore.

February 18, 2009: It is likely to soon be mandatory for power generators to sell off 3 percent of their capacities through an open access system to consumers of their choice.

February 17, 2009: The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), India's largest importer of coking coal, on February 17 said it is still in talks with global mining companies to re-negotiate coking coal contract prices for 2008-09 (July-June).

February 17, 2009: Wesfarmers Resources, Australia has reported a 169 percent hike in its operating profit due to record export metallurgical coal prices and increased sales volumes.

February 17, 2009: Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) has geared up to begin work on the 1,200-MW thermal power project in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh.

February 17, 2009: Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) has bought 25 percent in Kazakhstan thermal coal producer Shubarkol Komir.

February 16, 2009: Adani Group's 1,980-MW power project in the Gondia district of Maharashtra's Vidarbha region has got caught into a tangle with environmentalists vociferously opposing the grant of coal linkage to the project near the Tadoba Tiger Reserve, home to around 50 tigers.

February 16, 2009: WCCC Canada expects its salable coal production to drop down to 0.56 to 0.60 million tons (mt) in the fourth quarter (January-March 2009) and expects coal sales to reach 0.37 to 0.48 mt in this period.

February 16, 2009: Demand for power has fallen by 600 MW in the April-January period this fiscal, compared with the same period of 2007-08 when it had increased by 4,500 MW, according to the latest data available with the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

February 16, 2009: Coal (including briquettes etc.) exports by Australia in the calendar year 2008 reached 261.05 million tons (mt), up by 4.1 percent from the previous calendar year.

February 16, 2009: Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, would invest about Rs 500 crore for setting up seven new washeries.

February 16, 2009: Coal spot prices at DES ARA Index of globalCOAL recovered in the week ended on February 13, 2009.

February 16, 2009: The spot price of coal for delivery within May 2009 in Richards Bay Index continued to decline even in the week ended February 13, 2009.

February 16, 2009: Coal spot price in the week ended on February 13, 2009 in Newcastle Index for delivery within May 2009 moved up by around 2.7 percent over the last week's prices.

February 15, 2009: NTPC is planning to bid for imported fuel-based 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power Projects after acquiring coal properties abroad.

February 15, 2009: National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd (NMDC) is looking at forging partnerships for acquiring coal blocks within the country to feed its proposed steel, pellet and power plants.

February 14, 2009: The capacity addition in power during the Eleventh Plan (2007-12) could fall short by about 8,000 MW against the targeted 78,700 MW, said Kirit Parikh, Member, Planning Commission.

February 13, 2009: A spot deal of 50,000 tons of Australian, Colombian, Polish, Russian and South African (ACPRS) coal for delivery in April 2009 was realised on February 11 at the physical thermal coal market of globalCOAL, ARA (DES) deal (delivered at Amsterdam/ Rotterdam) at $78 per ton.

February 13, 2009: Jharkhand Integrated Power Ltd, the special purpose vehicle formed for developing the Tilaiya ultra mega power project, has issued letter of intent (LoI) for the project to Reliance Power.

February 13, 2009: A spot deal of 75,000 tons for delivery in November 2009 was realised on February 11 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL at $74.50 fob.

February 13, 2009: A spot deal of 15,000 tons for delivery in March 2009 was realised on February 11 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL at $79.25 fob.

February 12, 2009: NTPC and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) may sign a joint venture (JV) agreement on February 14.

February 12, 2009: Three physical deals of Australian, Colombian, Polish, Russian and South African (ACPRS) coal were realised on February 9, 2009 at the DES ARA market (delivered at Amsterdam/Rotterdam) at $82.50 for two deals of 50,000 tons each for delivery in April 2009 and $84 for 150,000 tons for delivery in the third quarter 2009.

February 11, 2009: Coke prices are keeping high on the back of strong demand in China. Though even 50 percent of capacity has been laid up at many coke companies, it is expected to remain so in the short term.

February 11, 2009: Metallurgical coal buyers have decided not to call off unwanted contract tonnage in the current fiscal year as a result of sagging global steel demand, according to BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA).

February 11, 2009: Five spot deals were realised on February 9, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL.

February 11, 2009: Six spot deals were realized on February 9, 2009, at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.

February 11, 2009: Six spot deals were realized on February 9, 2009, at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.

February 10, 2009: Average raw material selling prices for Russian miner and steelmaker Evraz have decreased sharply in the fourth quarter compared to the third.

February 10, 2009: Coal exports from Australia's Newcastle Port have registered a growth of about 8.08 percent to 91,651,134 tons for calendar year 2008 as compared to the corresponding period a year ago revealed recent Tex Report data.

February 10, 2009: A physical deal (delivered at Amsterdam/Rotterdam) of 150,000 tons of ACPRS (Australian, Colombian, Polish, Russian and South African) coal was realised on February 6, 2009, at the physical thermal coal market of globalCOAL, ARA (DES) for delivery in the fourth quarter 2009 at $83.25.

February 10, 2009: A spot deal of 75,000 tons for delivery in April 2009 was realized on February 6, 2009, at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL at $74 fob.

February 10, 2009: Three spot deals were realised on February 6, 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.

February 10, 2009: Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL) is unlikely to meet its coal production target - fixed at 104 million tons (mt) for this fiscal - as it has clocked an output of 74 mt by the end of January 2009. The coal company recorded an output of 88 mt in 2007-08.

February 10, 2009: Sahara India Power Corporation will set up a 1,320-MW, coal-based thermal power project in Orissa.

February 9, 2009: Alpha Natural Resources Inc. of the US, recorded a total coal sales of 28.34 million tons (mt) in the calendar year (CY) 2008, down by 0.8 percent from the previous calendar year.

February 9, 2009: Shipments of coal through Ridley Terminal of Prince Rupert Port in Australia during calendar year 2008 declined by nearly 6.7 percent as compared to the same time a year ago, revealed recent Tex Report data.

February 9, 2009: Three spot deals were realised on February 5 2009 for delivery in March 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.

February 9, 2009: Coal exports from Australia's New South Wales (NSW) reported a decline of about 2.2 percent in December 2008 as compared to the same month a year ago.

February 9, 2009: Coal India (CIL) is expected to invite nine shortlisted private parties from India and abroad for turnkey development and long-term operation of high capacity underground (UG) mines in seven virgin blocks, in a pre-bid meeting later this month.

February 9, 2009: International Coal Ventures (ICVL) has identified coal assets in Australia, Mozambique, the US and Indonesia for acquisition.

February 9, 2009: Coal spot prices at DES ARA Index of globalCOAL saw a rise in the week ended February 6, 2009.

February 9, 2009: The spot price of coal for delivery within May 2009 in Richards Bay Index in the week ended February 6, 2009 moved down by 2.43 percent to $74.23 per ton against the prices in the previous week.

February 9, 2009: Coal spot price in the week ended on February 6, 2009 in Newcastle Index for delivery within May 2009 slipped down by around 6 percent over last week's prices.

February 8, 2009: Cement companies continued to reel under the high cost of production besides drastic fall in demand due to delay in execution of infrastructure and housing projects on the back of liquidity crisis in the third quarter of the financial year.

February 8, 2009: The country's largest iron ore producer, NMDC, expects its fourth quarter production to surge by over 25 percent to 8.5 million tons on the back of an improved demand for the mineral from domestic steel sector.

February 8, 2009: NTPC has highest ever monthly generation of 19.2 billion units in January with eight power stations of the company achieving more than 100 percent plant load factor (PLF).

February 8, 2009: In a bid to substantially raise thermal power generation, Orissa government has signed MoUs with eight Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to produce 9780 MW electricity with an investment of Rs 42,023 crore.

February 7, 2009: The country's thermal coal imports are likely to shoot up by 9 percent this year on huge demand from planned mega power projects.

February 7, 2009: The Union Government's decision of asking the Railways to give top priority to rake allotment for transportation of power-grade coal has come as a boon to Orissa's major port, Paradip, as well as Bhubaneswar-based zonal railway, East Coast Railway (ECoR).

February 6, 2009: The Orissa government is going to sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with seven power companies on February 7.

February 6, 2009: Four spot deals were realised on February 4, 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.

February 6, 2009: Orissa may soon recommend Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) to the Union Coal Ministry for allotment of blocks to for the proposed coal-to-liquid (CTL) project to be implemented in the state.

February 6, 2009: A spot deal of 150,000 tons was realised on February 4, 2009 at the physical thermal coal market of globalCOAL, ARA (DES) deal (delivered at Amsterdam/Rotterdam) of ACPRS (Australian, Colombian, Polish, Russian and South African) at $80.

February 5, 2009: The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group is tying up with equipment manufacturers for the much-delayed 7,480-MW Dadri power project in Uttar Pradesh.

February 4, 2009: Coal India (CIL) would consider a price increase in 2010-11 and work towards increasing production. Its coal is currently almost 50 to 60 percent cheaper than international coal.

February 4, 2009: India will sign the first commercial agreement with Areva on February 4 to set up atomic power plants.

February 4, 2009: GMR Infrastructure hopes to gain 100 percent control over South-Africa based Homeland Mining & Energy at a little less than $100 million - a third of the initial valuation.

February 3, 2009: Two ARA (DES) deals (delivered at Amsterdam/Rotterdam) of ACPRS (Australian, Colombian, Polish, Russia and South African) coal of 150,000 tons each were realised on January 30, 2009 at the physical thermal coal market of globalCOAL, for delivery in the fourth quarter 2009 at $80 and $80.50.

February 3, 2009: A spot deal was realised on January 30, 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL, with a tonnage of 60,000 tons for delivery in March 2009 at $78.50 FOB.

February 3, 2009: Hyderabad-based KVK Energy & Infrastructure has separated with its joint venture partner, Maytas Infra, for setting up a 1,050-MW thermal power plant in Orissa.

February 3, 2009: A spot deal of 75,000 tons was realised on January 30, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL, for delivery in June 2009 at $72.10 per ton FOB.

February 3, 2009: The Central Mine Planning & Design Institute (CMPDIL) is set to finalise the data bank for the fourth round of bidding for coal bed methane (CBM) blocks.

February 2, 2009: The government may revive a proposal limiting the number of ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) awarded to a developer.

February 2, 2009: GMR Energy Ltd plans to start the construction work of its 1,200-MW power plant in Chhattisgarh from September.

February 2, 2009: The Hindujas expects to set up financial resources for the power project at Visakhapatnam by October.

February 2, 2009: Coal spot prices at DES ARA Index of globalCOAL slipped in the week ended on January 30, 2009.

February 2, 2009: The spot price of coal for delivery within April 2009 in Richards Bay Index in the week ended on January 30, 2009 inched up by 4.61 percent to $76.08 per ton against the prices in the previous week.

February 2, 2009: Coal spot prices in the week ended on January 30, 2009 in Newcastle Index for delivery within April 2009 slipped by 5.71 percent over last week's prices.

February 1, 2009 : Coal of Africa Ltd (CoAL) and South Africa 's state-owned Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) have joined hands to remove a major logistical problem for the Perth-based miner.

January 31, 2009 : Russia 's miner and steel producer Mechel plans to cut production of coal at its Yakutugol metallurgical coal mining and processing business by a third this year.

January 31, 2009 : Gloucester Coal is concerned that less demand for its coking coal from Japanese steelmakers might lead to a repetition of the fall in coking coal sales last quarter, from its mines in eastern Australia .

January 30, 2009: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has been hard hit by an acute shortage of coal that is hampering power generation at several plants. It may have to shut down some units temporarily.

January 30, 2009: Orissa Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OTPCL) has plans for a 2,000-MW thermal power plant at Rengali in Angul district.

January 30, 2009: The Orissa government plans to bring in 380 MW additional power to meet the peak summer demand, starting from March. It has also announced its decision to avoid any power cuts during the summer.

January 29, 2009: Xstrata's total consolidated coal production was up 3 percent to 85.5 million tons (mt) for the year ended 2008, with thermal and coking coal up 5 percent and 1 percent, respectively, compared to the previous year.

January 29, 2009: Great Eastern Energy Corporation (GEECL) has commissioned the country's first natural gas pipeline based on coal bed methane (CBM) in West Bengal.

January 29, 2009: Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) will invest Rs 40,000 crore in the power sector, cement industry, cargo handling airport and a technical institute in Madhya Pradesh.

January 29, 2009: Reliance Power won the 4,000-MW Tilaiya ultra mega power project (UMPP) with its aggressive bid. It put in the lowest bid, at Rs 1.77 per unit, 0.53 paise lower than National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC), its nearest competitor in the bidding race.

January 28, 2009: Projects worth Rs 37,989 crore in the power and steel sector have been cleared by the Orissa government.

January 28, 2009: Financial bids for the 4,000-MW Tilaiya ultra mega power project (UMPP) in Jharkhand will be opened on January 28.

January 28, 2009: Coal India (CIL) has turned down Rio Tinto's proposal to develop abandoned and underground mines as the latter "falls short of expertise" to take up the venture. The mines have total reserves of over 1,665 million tons (mt) of coal.

January 27, 2009: A high-powered committee in Delhi is reportedly renegotiating coking coal import prices with Australian suppliers on behalf of Steel Authority of India and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and insisting on a cutback.

January 27, 2009: Coking coal imports have dried up for Steel Authority of India (SAIL). This month has seen only one vessel, carrying about 20,000 tons, calling at Haldia and none at Paradip or Visakhapatnam so far.

January 27, 2009: Companies need to speed up coal imports to keep domestic power generation out of danger.

January 27, 2009: Coal India (CIL) is expected to increase coal prices from the next financial year due to a 24 percent increase in its wage bill. The move will hit thermal power plants as about half of them source coal from CIL.

January 25, 2009: The US arm of ArcelorMittal is facing a breach of contract lawsuit that accuses the world's largest steel producer of reneging on a $40-million deal to buy more than 2,00,000 tons of coal used for making steel.

January 25, 2009: Country's largest power producer NTPC said its net profit rose by 26.4 percent to Rs 2,250 crore for the quarter ended December.

January 25, 2009: Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan's national company, KazAtomProm.

January 24, 2009: Infrastructure firm Hindustan Construction Co, along with UK-based Halcrow Group, has bagged a Rs 2,726-crore order from National Hydroelectric Power Corp for setting up a 330 MW project in Jammu and Kashmir.

January 24, 2009: State-owned transmission utility PowerGrid Corporation said it has completed 202-km long transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul in Afghanistan.

January 23, 2009: Reliance Power, the company engaged in developing 13 medium and large-sized power projects, has posted a consolidated net profit after tax and minority interest of Rs 105.68 crore for the quarter ended December 2008.

By Arusha Das

January 22, 2009: December was quite an eventful month for the global thermal coal market. Benchmark thermal coal price indices touched the year's lows in the month.

January 22, 2009: The Coal Ministry will have to decide on awarding a coal block for the government's oil-from-coal programme to either Jindal Steel & Power or Strategic Energy Technology Systems, a Tata group joint venture with South Africa's Sasol.

January 22, 2009: Ten spot deals were realised on January 20, 2009, at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.

January 21, 2009: The inter-ministerial group on coal-to-liquid (CTL) projects has named companies that will be allotted three blocks for undertaking projects and submitted recommendations to the government.

January 21, 2009: West Bengal is facing a coal shortage as production from its captive block - allotted in 2002 - can start only by 2011, due to a delay in environment clearance.

January 21, 2009: Coal India Ltd (CIL) and NTPC Ltd will sign an agreement to maintain a minimum 75 percent fuel supply for the power entity.

January 20, 2009: China Coal Energy Co Ltd of China produced 100.37 million tons (mt) of raw coal during the calendar year 2008, up by 10.9 percent from the previous calendar year.

January 20, 2009: Three spot deals of 15,000 tons each for delivery in March 2009 were realised on January 16, 2009 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL. Out of these, two were settled at $85 FOB while the other one at $86 FOB.

January 19, 2009: Net profit after tax for Gujarat NRE Coke stood at Rs 13.26 crore, against Rs 49.97 crore in December 2007, for the quarter ended December 31, 2008, in the wake of the global downturn.

January 19, 2009: Tata Power Company (TPC) has said it is preparing the groundwork for a foray into the nuclear power sector and is awaiting the government to open up the sector to private players.

January 19, 2009: Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) and China's Schenck Process have signed an agreement for collaboration in the field of manufacturing mining machinery.

January 18, 2009 : Domestic coal prices will probably stay firm in the short term. They are currently being offered at a discounted price compared to international prices.

January 18, 2009: Russian coking coal producer Raspadskaya has said it lowered coal production 31 percent in 2008 to 9.4 million tons (mt).

January 18, 2009: Coal shipments from Australia's Newcastle port decreased 28 percent in the week ended January 13 and the number of vessels waiting outside the port fell.

January 18, 2009 : Vedanta Resources and Nava Bharat ( Singapore ) are face-to-face for taking over Zambia 's largest coal mine, Maamba Collieries.

January 15, 2009: Haryana Power Generation Corporation (HPGCL), Indian Railways and State Bank of India have entered a tripartite agreement for electronic payment (e-payment) of freight for coal supplied to its thermal power stations.

January 15, 2009: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Coal India (CIL), NMDC Ltd, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) have signed a joint venture agreement for corporatising International Coal Ventures (ICVL).

January 15, 2009: A spot deal of 300,000 tons was realized on January 13, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL, for delivery in 2010 at $75 FOB.

January 15, 2009: ONGC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Australia's Arrow Energy for cooperation in exploiting coal bed methane (CBM).

January 15, 2009: IDFC Projects, Bhel and Gujarat State Energy Company (GSECL) have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a 1,600-MW thermal power plant at Sarkhadi, Ahmedabad.

January 14, 2009: Australian power-station coal prices - a benchmark for Australia - stayed over the $81 mark but physical demand from Asia remained weak as industrial users cut power usage amid production cutbacks.

January 14, 2009: NTPC Ltd has decided to invest Rs 6,037 crore in expansion and renovation at three super thermal power projects (STPP) - in Madhya Pradesh (Vindhyachal), Uttar Pradesh (Rihand) and Chhattisgarh (Korba).

January 14, 2009: Coal India (CIL) plans to issue tenders for development of its underground mines by early February.

January 14, 2009: ONGC has sought permission from the Centre to relinquish three coal-bed methane (CBM) blocks -- at Satpura in Madhya Pradesh, Vardha in Maharashtra and Barmer Sanchor in Rajasthan.

by Arnab Mallick

January 13, 2009: Steelmakers are focusing on optimising in the face of the global slowdown and there has been a series of production cuts globally. Slowly and steadily, they are also coming up with their raw materials purchase plans in accordance with the current market condition.

January 13, 2009: Gujarat NRE Coke Limited has announced that the group is planning to make an massive investment of about Rs 3000 crore in Gujarat in the span of next five years.

January 13, 2009: The Centre has given permission to power companies for using surplus coal from one of their projects in another, under relaxed captive coal mining norms.

January 12, 2009: Coking coal imports in November stood at 0.725 million tons (mt) through five major ports, excluding Vizag and Paradip. This is a drop from October imports, which were 0.931 mt.

January 12, 2009: Coking coal imports through 19 major and minor ports increased in December compared to last month and stood at 2.24 million tons (mt), according to data compiled by Steel Insights.

January 12, 2009: The Jindal group will build a 2,000-MW power plant near Simar port, on the Gujarat coastline, at a proposed investment of Rs 10,000 crore.

January 12, 2009: Sterling Energy Ltd (SEL) has asked the Ministry of Coal for a captive coal mine or linkage for its 1,320 (2x660) MW power plant in Bharuch district of Gujarat.

January 12, 2009: The Haryana government has realised the importance of adequate power to satisfy the needs of rapid industrialisation and agriculture growth.

January 10, 2008: China is aiming to increase its coal production by about 30 percent by 2015 to meet its energy needs as per the forecast made by China's ministry of land and resources.

January 9, 2009: The National Development & Reform Commission of China gave the nod to two large coal mine projects in China's Shaanxi province.

January 9, 2009: China exported 11.90 million tons (mt) of coke during January to November in 2008, down 16.9 percent year-on-year (YoY) worth $5.71 billion, up 110 percent.

January 9, 2009: The sales price of Chinese coal coke appears to have reached the bottom.

January 9, 2009: Coal imports recorded a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.1 percent between 2003 and 2008.

January 8, 2009: Western Canadian Coal Corp has announced its intention to bring down production at two mines in British Columbia due to rising inventory levels.

January 8, 2009: Coal exports through Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) in South Africa have declined by more than 9.7 percent in December 2008 as compared to the coal exports made during the same time a year ago revealed data published in the Tex Report.

January 8, 2009: Port Waratah Coal Services Ltd. (PWCS) which operates coal terminal at Newcastle has informed that shipment of coal through the port have totalled 8,383,000 tons in December revealed data in a Tex Report.

January 8, 2009: The Chinese government released the first installment of export licence (EL) for 5,780,000 tons of coal coke in 2009.

January 8, 2009: Four spot deals were realized on January 6, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globalCOAL.

January 8, 2009: The government is concerned about the economic viability of its ambitious coal-to-liquid (CTL) in the wake of falling crude prices.

January 8, 2009: Peabody Energy announced that it is lowering its 2009 targets for Powder River Basin coal and Australian metallurgical coal production, due to the existing global recession.

January 7, 2009: The targeted production of 104 million tons (mt) for 2008-09 - fixed by the Coal Ministry for Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) - can only be achieved if its produces about 41 mt in the remaining three months of this fiscal.

January 7, 2009: The month of December witnessed an interesting trend in the index prices of thermal coal.

January 7, 2009: It has been suggested that any power project coming up within 150 km of a port be classified a 'coastal power plant.'

January 7, 2009: CESC Ltd is targeting the end of 2010 for financial closure of its 1,000-MW, coal-based power plant at Neulapoi in Orissa's Dhenkanal district.

January 7, 2009: A physical deal was realised on January 5, 2009 at the thermal coal market of globalCOAL, ARA (DES) (delivered at Rotterdam) of ACPRS (Australian, Colombian, Polish, Russian and South African) coal for delivery in February 2009 at $85.

January 7, 2009: On January 5, 2009 at the South African thermal coal market of globalCOAL (physical RB), a spot deal of 75,000 tons for delivery in March 2009 was realized at $82.00 FOB.

January 6, 2009: Public sector coal mining firm Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL) is in advanced talks with Hindustan Global Resources (HGR), an Australian firm owned by a group of non-resident Indians (NRIs) to set up a joint venture to get coal-to-briquette technology into India.

January 6, 2009: In a bid to speed up the capacity to meet the steep demand for energy, the Karnataka government has advanced the development of three power projects (of 660 MW each) in collaboration with the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) during the Eleventh Plan period itself against its original decision to take them up in the Twelfth Plan.

January 6, 2009: There are still stumbling blocks ahead for ONGC's $200-million CBM development project in Jharkhand and West Bengal.

January 5, 2009: Tata Power has challenged the Centre's decision to allow diversion of coal from the Sasan ultra mega power project's (UMPP) captive mines to other power projects.

January 4, 2009: The Annual Coal Ordering Meeting 2009 at Fuzhou, China finished on December 27 after six days of talks with 50 percent less contracts signed.

January 4, 2009: Existing mining contracts are expected to be re-evaluated in Indonesia with respect to royalties and the size of mining areas.

January 4, 2009: BPL Power Projects (AP) Pvt has sought additional coal linkage for its 2x300 MW Ramagundam thermal power project (TPP) in Andhra Pradesh.

January 4, 2009: A 10-million tons per annum (mtpa) export terminal will be set up by a consortium adjacent to South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT).

January 3, 2009 : Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) will set up a 600-MW merchant power plant in the Jaipur mandal of Adilabad district at an investment of Rs 3,000 crore.

January 3, 2009 : The northern region could face large scale blackouts as most power plants in the region are facing an acute shortage of coal. Coal-fired power accounts for 75 percent electricity in north India .

January 3, 2009 : Neyveli Lignite Corp has decided to raise up to Rs 1,850 crore either through local currency term loan or external commercial borrowings or by way of issuing bonds.

January 1, 2009: PTC India has decided to foray into coal and is looking for foreign mines.

December 30, 2008: The Ministry of Coal and the Planning Commission are formulating the annual plan on the basis of the demand for coal in different sectors, including power stations.

by Rakesh Dubey

December 29, 2008: The Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), India's largest steel producer and also the largest importer of coking coal, is trying hard to re-negotiate 2008-09 coking coal price contracts with its overseas suppliers in view of the fall in steel prices and global economic slowdown, a senior official told Coal Insights.

December 29, 2008: Pakistan's interest in the coal mining sector is quite new, and has been largely fuelled by the acute power shortage and also the large deposits of coal in the country.

by Gargi Sahai

December 29, 2008: India's total energy generation during the month of November was 58308.60 million units (MU), missing the target of 61748 MW by 6 percent, largely on huge deficit registered by power plants under state and central sectors, according to the latest report of Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

by Gargi Sahai

December 29, 2008: India's total imports of coal and coke products in November through 17 major and minor ports stood at 3.99 million tons (mt), up 6.12 percent compared to 3.76 mt imported in October, according to a compilation by Coal Insights.

December 29, 2008: Recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) decided to increase the cost of projects. The objective is to make highways a more viable option and encourage more bidders to participate in them.

December 29, 2008: In November, non coking coal imports stood at 1.68 million tons (mt). Coastal Energy (P) Ltd turned out to be the biggest importer in the month with import size of 2,21,925 tons.

December 29, 2008: Coking coal imports through five major ports, excluding Vizag and Paradip, in November stood at 0.725 million tons (mt), which is drop from October imports at 0.931 mt.

by Rakesh Dubey

December 29, 2008: Durgapur-based Mining & Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC), a public sector undertaking within the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprise, was once a thriving company based out of the east and its contribution to the mining sector, especially underground (UG) coal mining, was immense.

December 29, 2008: The German mining equipment manufacturers have hardly been affected by the financial crisis in comparison to other industries so far and the possibility of any downturn is unlikely even in 2009, but some moderate negative impact is likely in 2010, chairman of the VDMA German Mining Equipment Association Peter Jochums said.

December 29, 2008: Faced with the global economic slowdown and the need to cut production cost in whatever way possible to prepare for expected fall in steel demand in India, Tata Steel Ltd's mining division is planning to cut ash content in the coking coal produced at its mines in Jharia and Bokaro coalfields to 10 percent from the current level of 13 percent.

December 29, 2008: South Korea imported around 8.80 million tons (mt) of all types of coal in October, which was 13 percent more than what it had imported in September, according to a data released by the International Trade Association (ITA).

December 29, 2008: With steel makers cutting down on their outputs, Russia's second largest coking coal firm, Raspadskaya, has not been paid for 79 percent of its shipments since September.

December 29, 2008: The power project monitoring panel of the Ministry of Power has recently said that inordinate delay in completion of coal handling plant (CHP) and ash handling plant (AHP) was emerging as one of the chief problems in the commissioning of thermal power projects.

December 29, 2008: Ritchie Bros Auctioneers gave equipment sellers easy access to the global marketplace in November, attracting bidders from around the world to seven unreserved industrial auctions in four countries - including the largest auction in the company's history in Spain.

December 29, 2008: India on November 5 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Australia for bringing in new technologies to develop the coal sector of the country.

December 29, 2008: The world's coking coal requirement is expected to go up as much as 220 million tons (mt) by 2017 to 736 mt, from a level of 516 mt in 2007.

December 29, 2008: Minister of state for coal Santosh Bagrodia has strongly defended the New Coal Distribution Policy announced in October 2007 and said that about 95 percent of the total certified consumers of coal have already signed fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with coal companies till December 10 and the rest are expected to sign soon.

December 29, 2008: With good quality coking coal getting scarce and costlier, coke makers will have to deal with increasing challenges for production of high quality metallurgical coke at competitive prices, according to Balaji Coke Ltd's managing director Naresh Sharma.

December 29, 2008: India may ultimately face a shortage of around 36 mt of non-coking coal in 2008-09, according to demand-supply assessment of power sector, by Planning Commission, minister of state for coal Santosh Bagrodia said.

December 29, 2008: India's coal consumption in 2008-09 is likely to cross 550 million tons (mt) compared with around 510 mt in 2007-08, according to the latest joint assessment made by the Coal Ministry and the Planning Commission.

December 29, 2008: Indian coal and lignite producing companies - Coal India Ltd (CIL), Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) and Neyveli Lignite Company Ltd (NLC) - have managed to spend only around 27 percent of their planned expenditure for 2008-09 despite the fact that seven months of the year (till October) have already passed, according to information available with Coal Insights.

by Arusha Das

December 29, 2008: Central Mining Planning & Design Institute Ltd (CMPDIL) and Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL) are on the verge of signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to fast track coal exploration.

December 29, 2008: A joint Indo-US effort, which began in 2006 through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the government level, finally fructified on November 17.

December 29, 2008: Coal India Ltd (CIL) - which had been asked by the Planning Commission and Power Ministry in September to import 4 million tons (mt) of coal during the current financial year to help maintain a comfortable stock at power plants - may decide to go slow on the import in view of widespread fluctuations in international coal prices, sources in CIL said.

December 29, 2008: China's coal exports in November rose 5 percent from a month earlier, after exporters received a second batch of quotas to ship coal abroad at the beginning of the month.

December 29, 2008: The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has given stiffer guidelines for qualifying requirements for bidders of various projects, including Coal Handling Plant (CHP) and Ash Handling Plants (AHP), for coal and lignite based power plants.

December 29, 2008: The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has proposed a revision in the comprehensive award scheme effective 2007-08 to develop the spirit of competitiveness among the various power plants and projects in the power sector based on suggestions that came out of discussions in August 2008.

December 29, 2008: The minister of state for coal, Santosh Bagrodia, has strongly defended the progress made by captive coal block allottees and said that delay in starting production from those blocks were largely due to non receipt of statutory clearances.

by Arusha Das

December 29, 2008: With Coal India Ltd (CIL) concentrating more on underground mining, subsidiary Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) has recently entered into an equipment and services agreement with Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery (Group) Company Ltd (ZMJ) for developing a phase and then mining coal at one of the seams at the Moonidih project in Jharia Coalfields.

by Coal Insights Bureau

December 29, 2008: The Centre may cancel the allotment of captive coal blocks made to private sector companies, if they are not developed within a time frame, according to the minister of state for coal Santosh Bagrodia.

December 29, 2008: US coal production and exports are expected to fall next year on a slowdown in global demand, Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its short term energy outlook released in December.

December 29, 2008: The export of Indonesian coal has fallen nearly 86 percent to an estimated 3.67 million tons (mt) in November compared with 22.05 mt in October, according to data released by the country's trade ministry.

December 29, 2008: As much as 82.76 percent of the total quantity of coal offered by eight producing subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd (CIL) for electronic auction (e-auction) in November was lifted by consumers.

by Neha Prasad

December 29, 2008: Coal India Ltd (CIL) has an array of technology and equipment at its disposal in its quest to encourage underground (UG) mining. Domestic suppliers have still to update themselves on the technology as foreign companies have more new methods to offer. This is largely because UG mining has never really gained sway in India.

by Neha Prasad

December 29, 2008: Indian coal producing companies like Coal India Ltd (CIL) and Singareni Collieries Company Ltd have now decided to concentrate on underground (UG) mining for better quality and quantity of coal.

by Neha Prasad

December 29, 2008: Underground (UG) mining has come into the spotlight of late in India, with the growing realisation that opencast reserves will soon be exhausted. To maintain production, the country will have to focus on underground mining activity but it has certain limitations in this respect.

December 29, 2008: Jindal Power's (JPL) brownfield project in Chhattisgarh will be funded from domestic and international sources - bank loans, bonds and external commercial borrowing - as the company plans to raise Rs 7,000 crore in the next year.

December 29, 2008: Prices of thermal coal have continued to fall since November this year.

December 29, 2008: Xstrata plc was forced to accept a cut in prices for annual calendar year contracts for thermal coal with Japanese utilities, according to a recent report from Citigroup Inc and Merrill Lynch & Co.

by Arnab Mallick

December 29, 2008: Steelmakers are focusing on optimising in the face of the global slowdown. There has been a series of production cuts by global steel majors.

December 29, 2008: Madhya Pradesh Rajya Khanij Nigam plans to set up a 660-MW thermal power plant in Singrauli for utilising coal from the Dongri Tal-2 block.

December 29, 2008: The West Bengal government plans to lease four virgin coal mines from Coal India (CIL) to ensure uninterrupted supply to its power plants.

December 29, 2008: Jindal Power (JPL) has decided to raise electricity generation capacity at its Tamnar power plant by 2,400 MW to 3,400 MW over the next four years.

December 29, 2008: The Ministry of Power recently held a meeting over issues concerning power projects.

December 28, 2008: Public sector diversified mineral resources company, NMDC, will spin off its thermal coal operations into a separate company and induct a joint venture partner.

December 28, 2008: Optimistic of a 9 percent growth in Coal India Ltd (CIL) despite recession, the Centre on Saturday said there would be no shortage of coal for any industry, including small and medium scale units.

December 27, 2008: PT Bumi Resources Tbk (Bumi), the Indonesian mining company in which Tata Power owns 30 percent stake, has revised its coal reserves by 18 percent to 2,119 million tons from 1,800 million tons.

December 26, 2008: Coal India Ltd (CIL) may go it alone in Africa after its ties with ICVL have failed to yield the expected results. ICVL is a venture floated by five leading PSUs, including CIL.

December 26, 2008: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) will supply and install the main plant equipment for NTPC's Mauda super thermal power project in Nagpur, under a Rs 2,100-crore order.

December 26, 2008: Coal India (CIL) is expected to give a final list by March 2009 for its joint venture (JV) partners in reviving abandoned mines.

December 24, 2008: Coal imported by Brazil in November 2008 stood at 1.62 million tons (mt), up by 10.8 percent compared to the same month last year.

December 24, 2008: Coal exports by Vietnam in October 2008 slipped to 1.09 million tons (mt), down by 59.9 percent compared to the same month last year with an average FOB export price of $107.86 which was up by 258.93 percent.

December 24, 2008: Canada exported a total of 27.7 million tons (mt) of coal during October 2008, up by 10.2 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

December 23, 2008: Coal India Ltd (CIL) workers will go on strike for three days across the country, from January 5 next year, according to a notice served on CIL authorities by five central coal trade unions.

Source: Business Standard

December 23, 2008: Four spot deals were realised on December 19, 2008, at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.

December 23, 2008: Steel Exchange India Ltd (SEIL) will partner with Reliance Power for selling power generated from its Ravulapalem unit in West Godavari district.

December 22, 2008: Reliance Industries (RIL) has received a grant of $6,00,000 (less than Rs 3 crore) from the US Trade and Development Agency for its proposed coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuel project.

December 22, 2008: GMR Group plans to feed 1,500 MW power generation capacity for 20 years with supplies from a 100 to 150 million ton (mt) coal mine in Indonesia.

December 20, 2008: GMR Group plans to buy 100-150 million ton capacity coal mine in Indonesia to feed 1,500 megawatt power generation capacity for 20 years.

December 19, 2008: Coal India (CIL) has decided to take over three mining blocks, with estimated reserves of over 120 million tons, in Indonesia.

December 19, 2008: The Coal Ministry has decided to cancel coal mines allotted to steel and power companies if there is unnecessary delay in the development of captive mines.

December 19, 2008: Central Mine Planning & Design Institute (CMPDIL) is expected to start detailed exploration of the Mandakini coal block B in Talcher Coalfield for Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC).

December 18, 2008: The globalCOAL NEWC Index for thermal coal prices at the New South Wales port increased A$2.16, or 2.8 percent, to $78.25 per ton in the week ended December 12.

December 18, 2008: South Korea imported a total of 8.4 million tons of coal in November 2008 at an average CIF price of $154.43 per ton.

by Sarbani Haldar

December 17, 2008: Prices of thermal coal continued their decline through most of November and into the first week of December.

December 17, 2008: In the month of October 2008, the US exported a total of 4.07 million tons of coking coal at an average FOB price of $179.69 per ton.

December 17, 2008: China's Shenhua Energy Company Limited, registered a growth of 18.9 percent in its salable coal production in November 2008 and reached 15.7 million tons (mt)compared to the same month last year.

December 17, 2008: China produced 20.2 million tons (mt) of coal coke in November 2008, down by 29.7 percent compared to the same month last year.

December 17, 2008: Two spot deals of 15,000 tons each were realized on December 15, 2008 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL, for delivery in January 2009 at $83.25 and $84 FOB.

December 17, 2008: The Adani Group is planning to set up the world's largest coal handling terminal at Wandh, which will be able to mechanically evacuate 40 million tons (mt) of coal per year.

December 16, 2008: An Indo-German Energy programme would seek to bring in German expertise for an upgrade of domestic thermal power plants.

December 16, 2008: Villagers blocked transport of coal by road from Talcher at Dera and Handhidhua.

December 16, 2008: Coal coke production of China in October 2008 reached 21.9 million tons (mt), down by 21 percent compared to the same month last year.

December 16, 2008: China exported 2.6 million tons (mt) of coal in November 2008, down by 38.16 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

December 16, 2008: The total coal imports by China in November 2008 slipped by 50.1 percent to 2.1 million tons (mt) compared to the same month last year.

December 16, 2008: China produced 230 million tons (mt) of raw coal in November 2008, up by 5.2 percent compared to the same month last year.

December 15, 2008: The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) has forecasted an optimistic outlook for the global thermal coal market.

December 15, 2008: One of the subsidiaries of PT Adaro Energy Tbk, PT Adaro Indonesia has suspended deliveries temporarily to three of its customers.

December 15, 2008: JSW Bengal Steel will source coal for its 10-million ton (mt) steel plant at Salboni from three reserves in West Bengal.

December 15, 2008: The process of coal exploration is expected to be smoother after the alliance between Central Mine Planning & Design Institute (CMPDIL) and Mineral Exploration Corp (MECL).

December 12, 2008: The Railway Ministry and GVK Power (Goindwal Sahib) Ltd have signed a long-term coal transportation agreement for the 540-MW power plant in Punjab. The move is in response to the international slowdown.

December 10, 2008: There will be no competitive bidding for coal blocks to power, steel and cement industries.

December 10, 2008: Haryana Power Generation Corporation (HPGCL) and Indraprastha Power Generation Corporation (IPGCL) will develop a coal block in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh under a joint venture - Yamuna Coal Company.

December 10, 2008: On December 8, 2008 at the South African thermal coal market (physical RB) of globlCOAL, four spot deals were realised at $72.00 FOB, out of which one deal of 50,000 tons was for delivery in January 2009 and three of 75,000 tons each were for delivery in February 2009.

December 10, 2008: Nine spot deals were realised on December 8, 2008 at the Australian thermal coal market by loading at Newcastle (Phys NEWC) of globalCOAL.