Mittal, other cos get coal mining rights in India

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian firms owned by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and U.S.-based AES Corp are among 31 private firms that have been allocated coal mining rights by the government, official document seen by Reuters showed on Friday.

Mittal Steel India Ltd, power producers Sterlite Energy Ltd, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources; Tata Power Company Ltd, Reliance Energy Ltd and two other firms will together mine a coal block in Orissa.

Mittal Steel, a part of the group that includes the world's largest steel maker Arcelor Mittal, and power producer GVK Power Ltd have been jointly awarded a coal block in Jharkhand.

Mittal will have rights over the reserves in the two blocks equivalent to generate 750 MW power each for its proposed steel plants in the two mineral-rich states.

AES Chhattisgarh Energy Pvt Ltd, and Bharat Aluminium Co, a unit of UK-based Vedanta Resources Plc have been awarded a coal block each in Chhattisgarh, where the two firms separately plan to 1200 MW power project, the document showed.

For captive power production Tata Steel Ltd, the world's sixth largest steel maker along with an Indian power producer has been allocated a coal mine in Jharkhand.

India has awarded 15 coal blocks with geological reserves of 3.6 billion tonnes to support generation of 16,000 MW to 31 private companies after a government panel said that blocks not taken by state-run Coal India Ltd and its subsidiaries should be de-reserved.

It has also allocated 12 blocks with geological reserves of 6.4 billion tonnes to 18 government-run firms, an official statement said, without specifying the names of the firms winning the rights to mine.

"Eight coal blocks, with geological reserves of more than 2650 million tonnes are also to be allocated through competitive bidding route and will further enhance power generation by 10,000 MW," the statement said, without mentioning any time frame.