Oracle Coalfields to invest $610 million in Thar Coal

Oracle Coalfields to invest $610 million in Thar Coal

Monday, February 13, 2012: Oracle Coalfields, a firm having its roots in United Kingdom, is looking to invest over $610 million in Thar Coal. The firm is planning to develop an open pit coal mine in Tharparkar District of Sindh.
The initial development work on the project is expected to be initiated by late 2012 and the mine to be in production by 2014.

As per the Chief Executive Officer, Shah Rukh Khan, the project will add up to 300 megawatts (MW) of power for Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC). The companies will accomplish this by producing five million tons of coal which
will be used to generate the aforementioned units of electricity.

Khan held a press conference where he revealed this decision. He was accompanied by Mohammad Younus Dagha, the secretary of the Sindh Board of Investment and the Coal and Energy Development Department.

During the press conference, he said, “Equity portion of financing for the project is ready, while the debts will be financed from outside. A lot of lenders had shown keen interest and were amenable to loaning money for the project
because the KESC, which will buy all output from the mine, is a trustworthy company.”

Khan said that Oracle had signed a memorandum of understanding with the KESC to develop a 300 MW mine-mouth power plant at the site. He further orated that the company was also undertaking a comprehensive environment and social
impact assessment in compliance with both local and international regulatory requirements.

Dagha also shared his views on the project, he said that the mine has been leased for 30 years, extendable for more if needed.  Responding to a question, he said that the first project cycle for the installation of a transmission
line between Thar and Matiari has been completed and will cost Rs20 billion.

Thar Coal Reserve of Sindh is estimated to be about 9,629 (Million Tonnes). These amounts of reserves are enough to feed the countries energy demand for years to come.

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Posted by Wajahat Javed on Feb 14 2012. Filed under Business, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry