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Thar coal: Pakistan turns down Indian businessman investment proposal
The offer was made by Indian industrial tycoon Lakshmi Mittal’s company, brokered through consultant firm in Dubai.
Offer was made by Indian industrial tycoon Lakshmi Mittal’s company, was brokered through a consultant firm in Dubai. PHOTO: FILE
Pakistan has turned down a proposal by an Indian businessman to invest in the Thar coal project, an official source told The Express Tribune on Tuesday.
A senior official of the Government of Sindh, also associated with the Thar coal project, on the condition of anonymity told The Express Tribune that the offer was made by Indian industrial tycoon Lakshmi Mittal’s company and was brokered through a consultant firm in Dubai.
The investment offer was reportedly above $2 billion.
In the offer, it was said that the coal obtained from Thar would be used by the company ArcelorMittal’s steel plants situated in India and other countries.
The official said that the reason why ArcelorMittal expressed interest in the project was the low rate of the coal.
“Indian demand for coal is increasing rapidly and Thar coal can be a cheap source of energy for Indian industries,” the official said.
The reason for rejecting the offer, according to the official, was sensitive relations between the two countries.
Officially there is no ban on cross border investment between Pakistan and India but there is a lack of confidence on the part of investors.
“We can attract a lot of investment from India if we are able to hold an investment conference in India,” the official said.
The official also added that India had a vast experience in the coal sector and it would be a “win win situation” for both the countries.
Reader Comments (52)
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Why do we need investors from India to extract coal? start extracting it already
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Summary is that the Thar coal is still sitting there useless.
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Sadia:
You need a lot of infrastructure to move the coal..
The infrastructure required is railway lines (heavy gauge).
Roads that can withstand heavy machinery.
And then trucks that can lift over 250 tons of coal.
Setting up of high transmission lines to transport eelectricity if power plants are located nearby.
All this infrastructure would allow the price of coal to be cheap and it could be used for
1) Generating power. Many older furnance oil poer plants would convert to coal.
2) Exports. Coal could be exported.
If Pakistan was not spending $5 billion on the army, it could have used this money for developing coal. But Army and high expenditure on ISI has not allowed Pakistan to
1) Develop democracy.
2) Spend money on infrastructure.
3) Caused the creation of Pakistani taliban.
4) Separtatist movement in Balochistan.
5) Low level of education throughtout the country.
We should fix ther army expenditure max. of Rs220 billion per year and Pakistani problems would be over.
ShahabRecommend
I hope an honest government takes over and then these resources are used in the most proper way and every penny earned is spent on development of Balochistan and Pakistan. I pray in my heart, waiting for the day to see my country like that before I die….Dr Khurrum UK
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This newspaper is trying to fool the readers by posting very old articles . This thing had happened 1 year ago , if I am not wrong . I am sure it is not the latest news . Now a days , condition of pak is such that , even a fool business man won’t invest there . Forget about Lakshmi Mittal , world’s largest steel tycoon .
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The Indian only wanted to extract coal for its steel plants. So there was no reason to let them do that. We need to develop our own resources. This government is incompetent. It has no realistic plans for the development of these resources.
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Pls don’t attract investment from India. Then we the people will also be indebted to the Bank of India in addition to IMF WB and Lehmen Brothers. Just build it and they will come
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@Anil
Then Mr. Anil i think Lakshami Mittal was fool according to your views because Pakistan’s condition is much better than last year having less attacks than last year. also now india being declared as MFN by pak.
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@anil:
Good, then we are forced to do it ourself pak zindabad
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“The reason for rejecting the offer, according to the official, was sensitive relations between the two countries”.
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I guess Pakistan has no intention of honoring India’s status as Most Favored Nation.
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@anil
Man we are talking about ‘Thar Coal’ reserves, 175 billion tons of coal!!! Ofcourse we have to forget Lakshmi Mittal, he just can’t handle it!
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@anil:
LOL !!!!!! I was about to comment as to which businessman wanted to invest, but then i saw a name of ArcelorMittal and i knew for fact that this was an old news, as they have moved on to other regions.
These are not market leaders for nothing !! They are very sharp and one only has to look at their interests across the Globe.Recommend
@Sadia
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We are waiting for the coal deposits to be converted to diamonds… Sad that it would take a few million years more!
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@anil we have chinese friends who r investing more than 10billion$ on Thar coal so there need of your Lakshmi Mittal ..Recommend
How is it a win win situation when OUR coal will be used for INDIAN industries rather than for Pakistani industries, one major need being in power generation.
We don’t just need money in return of coal, we actually need to use it within Pakistan.
Thanks for the offer Mr. Mittal, but no thanks.Recommend
@S!D:
@Shahab Ahmed:
What does army have to do with this? Do you know the army’s share in budget has not increased at all… in real terms anyways. And with India continually increasing its army’s budget share by many folds in every budget, Pakistan need to keep pace. India is and always will be a threat to Pakistan… You only have to remember the words of Indian government after they tested their nuclear missile technology to gauge their mindset and their general foreign policy when it comes to Pakistan.
And ISI? Well, they are the eyes and ears of Pakistan. With the recent memogate scandal just being one example, you can see why the army and ISI sometimes need to take extra judicial measures to get rid of treacherous governments and leaders.
Before you make any assumptions. I am a businessman, have no connections with the army whatsoever… Just think army has done more for this country than our so- called democratic leaders ever have…Recommend
Pakistani coal must be protected at all costs. I hope security forces are deployed to prevent any mining of Thar coal. Government should study proposals to bury the coal deeper so that no one may extract or steal it.
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@Babloo:
Not you Indy Boy. You will be the last on the Planet to do that. Take My words on that. Youa re not even welcome.. here.
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I think we can find some other more reliable countries other than our rival india to invest in our coal.
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“the official also added that India had a vast experience in the coal sector and it would be a “win win situation” for both the countries.”
But this is Pakistan. We would rather have a “lose lose situation”. How pathetic. only excuse that the official came up not to proceed with this deal is that the company is Indian. This company was prepared to invest $2 billion.but we will let the Chinese have it for nothing instead.
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@ahsan:
Your Chinese friends will take the coal for free in exchange for empty promises to protect your country from its enemies which by the way they have never done in any conflict with India
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@Adeel Ahmed:
India does not have to use aid money nor does it have to choke other institutions such as education & infrastructure to invest in its army, As far as ISI/Army being eyes & ears, where were they when Osama was killed in the middle of the night or when the Mehran base was attacked?
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If it was Musharraf then he would have accepted it and by now you’d have had companies from all over the world including Pakistan as well as India who would have been operating at Thar.
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India has killed 130,000 Pakistanis and raped 10,000 Muslimas in Occupied Kashmir. It is morally reprehensible to do business with them.
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M,
India has taken 160 Billion dollars in Aid. Source – OECD. go brag somewhere else.
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Any proposal, in which India gains 100 dollars for every 200 dollars Pakistan gains is totally unacceptable. It does not matter if Pakistan gains 1 billion dollars if it means India too will gain 100 million dollars. However, any proposal where India loses 100 million dollars for every 1 billion dollar Pakistan loses shoud be studied. The bottom line is India must not gain anything, irrespective of the size of Pakistan’s gain.
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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is to address a joint session of Pakistan’s parliament wrapping up a three-day visit to Islamabad that concluded deals worth around 35 billion dollars.
Business leaders and cabinet ministers formalised around 35 billion dollars’ worth of trade deals during the visit, signing a raft of agreements
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old news
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@M:
Well, where was CIA when 9/11 happened or where was RAW when 26/11 happened? Are you trying to say that all these intelligence agencies are completely useless and should be disbanded? Or do you have some particular “fondness” with ISI alone? Plus, where is the proof that Osama Bin Laden was found and killed in that raid? Did you see any DNA results? Photos? Dead body? ANYTHING??? I can’t blindly believe in everything the western media and CIA/US feed us, especially after the lies they told on Iraq.
And if India didn’t have to “choke other institutions…” for its army… you wouldn’t be seeing 300 million people living in hunger in India… more than the population of sub-saharan africa. Surely, the funds are not being channeled properly… right?
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@anil:
Why dont you check with Mr.Mittal himself…or he has confide in you? You are living in another world…business is business and depends on profitability…businessmen will do business even with “HOSTILE TALIBANS” if it promises profit.
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@M:
Where are you living…? Go check the most indebted nation’s list and then come back to comment.
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Realistically speaking there are only 2 Countries which can invest heavily in Pakistan- India and China. Lets say the first Country is barred from investing, there is no competition and the second Country will get whatever it wants at the price it is comfortable with.
End Result: Losers are Pakistanis, biggest gainers are the Chinese.
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@yusuf:
if L.N. Mittal can’t handle it,then nobody can handle it.
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@BruteForce:
Even then Its acceptable to us If there is only one candidate, China. This can tell you that How immesne is the love for a Pakistani for India? Now there are two options you have :
1) Abuse Pakistanis for their Hatred for you
2) Think about why it is so?
Either way, We do not care a bit . One thing is certain, No Pakistani wants to see you on their soil . In either case You are the loser not us. Good Luck somewhere else but Sorry No entry here. Good Bye.
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i live very near to thar.
and i found nothing that this place having one of the largest coal reserve, infact i found a no’s dogs and a broken wooden gate at the entrence of largest coal mines. i dont think so that its really on ground, i give a feel that its only on doc.now.
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though it’s an old news, but I can tell you one thing that if Chinese wanted to invest in India (even a few millions), the Govt. here would have welcomed it…even though we have conflicts in may areas. It’s investment after all that creates jobs, opportunities, infrastructure.Recommend
Successful business is based on trust and integrity. China tops the list. India should be absolutely avoided.. . . . .it has caused much damage to Pakistan through out and even to this day. When Pakistan has China as its trusted friend and efficient business partner, why should it even think of India? And besides, there are other credible countries who are interested that could also be considered to team up with.
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We can let Americans use Shamsi base for drone attacks and let UAE Sheikhs use it for Shikar but cannot allow Indians to invest in our country.Our priorities are lop sided.Trade between India and China has crossed 60 billion dollars.
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Anyone works or invest in the interest of Pakistan, and well being of it’s people must be appreciated and encouraged, regardless of Nationality or Religion.
I would love Tata to start manufacturing Range Rovers & Tata Cars in Pakistan and export to Afghanistan, Iran and other Central Asian Countries.
How long you guys will live on vegetables??
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It is an old news .Recommend
Who is this official?(We need to find out). If India needs coal, we should mine it ourselves and sell it to any country we want to but certainly no Indian’s or Indian investment is wellcome in Pakistan. Overseas Pakistani’s can invest ten times than any Indain company if given the right atmosphere and facilities. They already send around $10 billion in remittances every year. This Mittal is the same which tried to buy Pakistan steel mill through a Russain front company and was turned down by Pakistan. Why doesn’t Mittal invest in his “Incredible India”? Mittal has “Zero” investment in India. Go figure it out.
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@Noni Pah:
And, people wonder why Pakistan is bankrupt! Your ghairat and false self-respect crashes the moment your Country turns to US for aid. Indians offer you an honourable deal and you dont have the honour to honour it.
India can get its resources from many places and it is already doing that. Pakistan doesn’t have many choices.
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@BruteForce – Watch it buddy, Pakistan will rise by not partnering with India!
Doing business with india is a bad oman as it will Bankrupt Pakistan miserably just like it has caused misery to the the common citizens and the economy of USA where India has sucked their jobs causing massive job losses and economic meltdown! Pakistan should learn from the US economy and be Beware of India!! Pakistan should hire its own local people in partenership with friendly trusting countries as that will be the sure road to success!
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@Tufaan:
Pakistan is on the verge of breakdown! It cannot pay its bills. Show this bravado to someone else.
IMF and WB are predicting doom for Pakistan and you are here talking some imaginary tale! Things dont work that way.
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@BruteForce:
HAHAHA .. Looks Like you are Obsessed with Pakistan. I am glad to see that Because Pakistanis don’t give you a damn anyway. I think you must worry about yourself and must concentrate on Maosits who are a big force now and threaten your own security from within. Take care of them and spend some hard earned cash on them as well so that you can find a solution to your own biggest domestic threat instead of worrying about others. LOL. IMF and WB both are going to doom themselves. You were saying the same thing when your terrorist Hindu RSS Organization RAW was training and financing terrorism in Pakistan at the time of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. You had to spit and Lick it back when Soviets got defeated. You are repeating it at present. But let me tell you, At the end You are the one who is going to lick it back what you have spit. Because RSS Hindu State sponsored terrorism is the biggest danger for the entire region in particular and for the world in general. And all region has realized that. That’s why you will see more opposition of Hindu Terrorism sponsored by the Hindu State whether its in Sri Lanka in the form of Tamil Tigers or BLA in Balochistan. Your aspirations are bound to doom and defeat in the region for you is on the way in Afghanistan.
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@BruteForce: If you hate Pakistan so much, why do you bother reading news related to Pakistan? Go away, you won’t be missed.
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@antanu: ” Go check the most indebted nation’s list and then come back to comment.”
India is indebted to Indians NOT IMF or World Bank. Big difference.
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Come on guys…what’s the big deal? Mittal will find another place to invest and Pakistan will find another investor. Move on.
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@Sadia: “Why do we need investors from India to extract coal? start extracting it already”
Because Pak does not have money to invest in energy exploration. Please see this news item in tribune published a couple of days back. http://tribune.com.pk/story/302664/circular-debt-money-for-oil-and-gas-exploration-dries-up/#comment-456994
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gosh. this guy is one of the richest in the whole world. pakistan missed a big opportunity
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@Khalis – Pakistan does not need filty rich figures as all that money that has poured in has caused more problems then help to the common man. What Pakistan needs is a sincere, honest reliable country’s investment for its natural resource’s exploitation such that it will benefit and belong to the Pakistani people as it’s rightful owner and no one else.
Then only one can say that the country is progressing and becoming self reliant.
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