Fri Mar 5, 2010 3:45pm IST
By Ruchira Singh
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The government is open to foreign investment joint ventures to help mine vast domestic coal reserves as imports are set to leap in the next fiscal year to meet fast-growing power demand, the coal minister said on Friday.
Coal contributes to generation of more than half of India's annual energy consumption, but local output lags booming demand in the nation of more than one billion people.
"This year we have increased our production by about 8 percent, but our energy requirement has increased by 15 percent," Sriprakash Jaiswal told Reuters in an interview.
"The reason is that our country's growth is rising so fast, he said. "There are so many power plants being set up."
Jaiswal said as part of India's drive for more coal, the country has more than 25 blocks available this year for auction after a new mining bill slated to be introduced in the current session of the parliament becomes law.
"If we start the bidding process, the private players who will come in could raise production," he said, adding demand to fuel economic growth was key.
Factory output in India, Asia's third-largest economy, grew nearly 17 percent in December from a year earlier, the fastest pace on record, signaling a strong economic recovery.
Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-46681320100305
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