Calcutta, Nov. 15: Coal India Limited (CIL) may float a joint venture with Brazilian mining company CVRD (Companhia Vale do Rio Doce) to acquire coal mines in Mozambique.

“We can either become a joint venture partner of CVRD or may pick up stakes in the Mozambique coal blocks for sourcing coking coal. Coal India can also go stand alone basis,” senior company officials said.

CVRD has bagged the contract to carry out a feasibility study of the coal reserves in the western province of Tete in Mozambique. The Brazilian company is expected to lift coal from the mines by 2008-09.

Coal India is keen to acquire coal mines of Carbomoc, a coal company in Mozambique that had stopped full-scale production after years of civil war ruined the rail infrastructure.

Coal India officials said the meeting with CVRD as well as the government officials in Mozambique was fruitful. “We have submitted our proposals to the government. They will get back to us,” they added.

Two Indian companies have facilitated the entry of CVRD in the Mozambique coal industry. The basic pre-condition of CVRD for the coal project was ensuring transport to the port of Beira, which was destroyed during the civil war. This was guaranteed earlier this year, when the Beira rail system was leased out to the Indian consortium of Rites and Ircon International.

A four-member team from Coal Videsh, a department set up to fulfil Coal India’s overseas acquisition plans, recently visited Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Coal India has not yet got permission from the Centre to set up its overseas subsidiary.

It is now running it as a separate department.

Coal India is venturing to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa to procure coking coal. Coal Videsh has to contribute 10 million tonnes of coal by 2010 and 50 million tonnes by 2020.

The Coal India team has also identified about 300 million tonnes of coking coal reserve in Namibia.

In Zimbabwe too, the team had a discussion with the officials of Hwange coal mines having a coal reserve of 4 million tonnes owned by the government.

“We are looking at some sort of an agreement, whereby Coal India will provide the coal mining equipment and will take back some coal in lieu of that,” the officials added.

The team also had discussions with the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, which has coal blocks in Zimbabwe.

They want Coal India as a partner for boring and drilling coal blocks.

Sources said in the second stage of operations, Coal Videsh will venture into Russia, Kazakhstan, Canada, Venezuela and Poland for coking coal.