NALCO to buy stakes in Indonesia coal mines

India's state-run National Aluminium Co. Ltd (NALCO) is looking at buying stakes in Indonesian coal mines to secure supplies for its aluminium project in East Kalimantan at Borneo. NALCO wants to invest in coal mines that can produce coal with heating value of more than 5,000 kcal/kg air-dried basis, and which are able to produce 10 million tonnes per annum of coal from 2014. The company needs 8-10 million tonnes per year of thermal coal, of which half will be used to feed its East Kalimantan project and the remainder for its operations outside Indonesia. NALCO plans to build a 0.5 million tonnes aluminium smelter and a 1,250 megawatts coal-fired power plant.Adidas