Adani signs $1.65 bn deal with Indonesia for sourcing coal

Adani Enterprises on Wednesday announced a USD 1.65 billion deal with the Indonesian government and its mining company PT Bukit Asam for setting up rail and port infrastructure in the island nation for sourcing coal to India.
Adani Enterprises, through its Indonesian subsidiary PT Adani Global, has entered into a binding tripartite agreement for setting up a dedicated 'rail and port project' with the Indonesian government and PT Bukit Asam, Indonesian government owned coal mining company.
"As per the agreement, we will be investing USD 1.65 billion (approximately Rs 7,500 crore) in building infrastructure, which includes port and railway lines in South Sumatra province of Indonesia," Devang Desai Chief Finance Officer Adani Enterprises told PTI in an interview.
The company plans to commence construction as soon as it is granted all the necessary clearances.
"We look to start construction there in the next three months after getting all the clearances and would be completed in 48 months," he said. "As per the deal we have exclusive rights over 60 per cent of the coal from coal reserves of Bukit Asam in the province," Desai said. This is part of our main business of importing coal to cater to various user industries in India, Desai added. There is a huge demand of coal in India, which is expected to grow manifold in the next two years, he added.
At present Adani Enterprises imports 35 million tonnes of coal and is likely to hike this capacity to about 60-70 million tonnes in the next 3-4 years.
Indonesian mines have an estimated reserves of about two billion tonnes and right now it is expected to mine 35 million tonnes, which can be ramped up to 60 million tonnes in next few years.
"We have exclusive rights to buy 60 per cent of that output at government notified prices," he said, adding that the agreement is for a maximum period of 30 years and the prices for the transportation has been linked to the CPI (consumer price index) and fuel prices.
The company's Indonesian endeavour would be funded at a debt and equity ratio of 70:30. The equity portion would come from the Adani Enterprises and the Indonesian subsidiary and debt is yet to be tied up.
Meanwhile, Adani Enterprises, which plans to focus on the energy sector bought the Australia-based Linc Energy's coal assets for about Rs 12,600 crore in a cash and royalty deal, earlier this month.