<div>India is talking to South Africa to
buy coal mines there to feed its expanding steel industry, Coal Secretary Anil
Swarup said, adding that New Delhi also hopes to stop imports of coal used to
generate power in three years as domestic output jumps.</div><div> </div><div>After
years of poor production crippling power supply, state-run Coal India is
boosting output at a record pace to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of
connecting to the grid millions of Indians who still make do with kerosene lamps.</div><div> </div><div>But
India, which wants to triple its steel capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2025,
does not have enough reserves of coking or steelmaking coal, prompting Coal
India to look at assets abroad, Swarup told the Reuters Global Commodities
Summit on
Monday.</div><div> </div><div>"They are
presently in negotiations with people in South Africa," Swarup said.
"We imported around 80-90 million tonnes of coking coal last (fiscal) year
and if that is the amount that can come through a mine owned by Coal India, it
would consider
it."</div><div> </div><div>Swarup
declined to give any investment figure but said money was not an issue for Coal
India, which had cash and bank balance of more than $8 billion for the year
ended March 31.</div><div> </div><div>Overall
coal imports into India, the world's third-largest buyer, fell for the third
straight month in September in a country used to seeing shiploads coming in as
new power plants started. Coal India's output grew 32 million tonnes to 494.2
million tonnes in the fiscal year 2014/15, the biggest volume rise in its
four-decade
history.</div><div> </div><div>"In three
years we should be able to mine (all the power-generating) coal we require,"
Swarup said. "The quality of coal that is not available will still be
imported."</div><div> </div><div>India is
looking to more than double its total coal output to 1.5 billion tonnes by the
end of this decade, with 500 million coming from the private sector. Swarup
said India is working out details to open up the nationalized sector and allow
private companies to mine and sell
coal.</div><div> </div><div>The turnaround in
India's coal industry has been a highlight of Modi's tenure in office since May
last year, and the prime minister is keen that output grows
further.</div><div> </div><div>"We are
reasonably satisfied (with the coal resurgence), though there is still a long
way to go," Swarup said.</div><div> </div><div>But
environmentalists are worried the world's third-largest polluter is leading a
pan-Asian dash to burn more of the dirty fossil fuel amid international efforts
to contain global
warming.</div><div> </div><div>Global
investment banks are under pressure from environmental groups to steer clear of
India's plan to raise as much as $3.3 billion from selling a 10 percent stake
in Coal India.</div><div> </div><div>Swarup
said the environment was a non-negotiable issue. He said India was planning to
plant more trees than it cuts during coal mining operations, wash coal to
improve its quality, push renewable energy and promote other
"clean-coal"
technologies.</div><div> </div><div>(Reuters)</div>