Adani to form JV for mining in Chhattisgarh

New Delhi: Adani Enterprises has announced its decision to form a joint venture with Sainik Mining and Allied Services Company for carrying out mining activities in Chhattisgarh after it secured a mining contract from the Congress-led government in the state.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, Adani Enterprises informed that the joint venture will be named Gidhmuri Paturia Collieries Pvt Ltd. Adani Enterprises will own a 74 percent stake in the company. It said that the authorised share capital of the JV will be Rs 10 lakh while the paid up share capital is Rs 1 lakh.

The company is yet to commence operations, the document said.

The backdrop

The Chhattisgarh government's decision to hand Adani the contract for open cast coal mining in Parsa in the state's dense Hasdeo Arand forests was met with backlash because the forest area is one of central India's last biodiversity-rich forests that is home to elephants and mining in the area could have far-reaching consequences for forest cover conservation in the country.

Opencast mining involves digging for coal after removing all the tree cover and vegetation and soil from the area. The proposal to offer the Parsa mine came up before environment ministry's expert appraisal committee (EAC) thrice before clearance was finally granted on February 21 this year.

Even though the mine, that has the capacity to yield 5 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA), got a stage 1 clearance, but the minutes of the forest advisory committee's meeting showed that a section of the 841 hectares to be diverted for the mine lies in very dense forest.