Uk Mining Giants Wait For Policy Signal Keen On A Manufacturing Unit For Equipment In India

UK mining giants wait for policy signal Keen on a manufacturing unit for equipment in India

by Business Standard / Kolkata

9th March 2006

UK mining outfits are now zeroing in on India. Baldwin & Francis Ltd. (B&F), one of the leading mining equipment companies in UK, is contemplating to float an Indian subsidiary for penetrating to India. Joy Mining Machinery, a global mining equipment outfit which has already presence in India, would soon bid for more coal blocks for equipment supply and production consultancy. The company has already supplied a continuous miner system to Chirimri mine of South Eastern Coalfields and Tandsi mine in Western Coalfields. B&F and Joy were members of a British mining delegation headed by director general of Association of British Mining Equipment Companies, Philip Deakin. The delegation was in Kolkata on Wednesday to met local mining companies. Deakin said that India appeared to be in the transition phase as far as mining industry was concerned. "We are now closely observing the changes here. Once we feel the state is ready, the British companies will definitely grab that opportunity," he said. The managing director of B&F, Dave Pattinson, said the company was currently assessing the potential in the Indian mining industry. "We might float a subsidiary here," he said. Pattinson pointed out that if the opportunity in India expanded rapidly in the future, Baldwin might look for a manufacturing base here as well. The company currently had a manufacturing base in China. The managing director of the Indian subsidiary of Joy Mining, N Dutta, said that the company recently bagged two new mining contracts in Singareni in southern India and Jhara mine of Eastern Coalfields. "We are not only supplying the technology and equipment but also helping in coal production," he said. Joy would be getting a service charge against the production from each field. "Coal India has set a minimum production target of 0.3 million ton from each mine, but we have already surpassed that," he said. The company was now producing 0.8 million ton of coal from the two mines. Dutta said that the company would be bidding for projects from Eastern Coalfields and Central Coalfields. Joy currently operated at projects in China, South Africa, USA, Australia and Russia. It reported a global turnover of around $2 billion last year.