Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL), on Wednesday, announced the acquisition of Canadian firm CIC Energy, and plans to pump $700 million over the next three years to set up facilities at the acquired firm’s properties in Botswana. On July 23, the JSPL had entered into an all-cash deal to acquire a 100 per cent stake in CIC Energy for about $115 million (over Rs. 600 crore). The deal would give JSPL access to 2.4 billion tonnes of high thermal coal reserves, located at CIC’s Mmamabula mine in Botswana. Talking to journalists over a conference call, JSPL's CFO, Sushil Maroo said that the company plans to invest $100 million on opening the Mmamabula coal field. It would also set up a 300 MW power plant there at a cost of around $600 million.
JSPL had secured all the necessary approvals to acquire CIC Energy, which would be merged with Jindal BVI Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of JSPL. CIC Energy would also be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange, with the process beginning within a week.
Mr. Maroo said the company does not have any immediate plans to bring Botswana coal to India as the African nation is a land-locked country and development of evacuation facilities would take anywhere between three to five years. The company is also looking to set up a 1,200 MW power plant to cater particularly to the South African market as its mining complex is 30 km away from it.
