My colleague Promit Mukherjee is the lead writer of this story, which first appeared in DNA Money edition on Tuesday, November 15, 2011.
The salt-to-software conglomerate, the Tata Group, is just not content with its substantial presence in Canada’s iron ore mines like Direct Shipping Ore and Taconite projects. Over and above the majority stake in those assets, it wants more and now has its eyes firmly set on the country’s metallurgical coal reserves, too.
The discussions are at a preliminary stage. Canadian ministry officials have let out that the group is looking at the British Columbia province of Canada for investment, which has huge reserves of metallurgical coal, also called coking coal and used for steel making.
“We are very much open to Indian companies picking up stakes in our mines and out of several companies we have spoken to, the Tata Group has shown a considerable interest to put in money here,” said Christy Clark, premier of the Province of British Columbia.
Clark is here in India for a business-cum-political visit and was in Mumbai to attend the Indian Economic Summit organised by the World Economic Forum and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
Clark admitted that in this race for Canadian metallurgical coke, which is exported extensively, China seems to have the first-mover advantage and India has so much catch-up to do. In fact, citing a specific example, she said the China Investment Corporation recently picked up a 40% stake in a huge metallurgical coal mine in the province.
“China and Japan have huge interests in the region and we are also inviting Indian companies to the province as we have a gamut of opportunities for Indian companies here,” she said.
Currently, the bilateral trade between India and Canada is pegged at $2.1 billion of which a meagre $135 million comes from British Columbia.
Clark is out to change that and says she sees no reason why the figure can’t jump by a big margin over the next few years, given the promise the province holds.
Mining is just part of the bigger story. Clark has a string of meetings lined up with several business leaders in Mumbai and Bangalore over the next two days to push opportunities in various other fields like clean energy, LNG, shale gas, digital media and film, life sciences and mining. “Besides mining, British Columbia offers great opportunities in clean energy and LNG and we are keen on Indian participation in these sectors,” she said.
Clean energy - which includes hydro, bio fuel, solar and geothermal - accounts for as much as 93% of the power generation pie in British Columbia, but so far, Indian companies have been conspicuous by their absence from the scene.
Talking about what more is in store, Clark said the province has embarked on an ambitious $25 billion (Canadian) LNG project, the first part of which will come up in 2015 and the next will be ready by 2020. “Even in this project, Chinese companies have bid aggressively, but there has been no participation from Indian firms. We want companies here to come and invest in the project,” she said.
Canada is also keen to roll out a red carpet to Bollywood. “With a massive density of Indian population in our province, we want to make Vancouver the Bollywood of the West,” she added.
Currently, the bilateral trade between India and Canada is $2.1 billion out of which merely $135 million comes from British Columbia. Clark said with the number of opportunities present in the province, she wants to increase the number manifold in the next few years.
The salt-to-software conglomerate, the Tata Group, is just not content with its substantial presence in Canada’s iron ore mines like Direct Shipping Ore and Taconite projects. Over and above the majority stake in those assets, it wants more and now has its eyes firmly set on the country’s metallurgical coal reserves, too.
The discussions are at a preliminary stage. Canadian ministry officials have let out that the group is looking at the British Columbia province of Canada for investment, which has huge reserves of metallurgical coal, also called coking coal and used for steel making.
“We are very much open to Indian companies picking up stakes in our mines and out of several companies we have spoken to, the Tata Group has shown a considerable interest to put in money here,” said Christy Clark, premier of the Province of British Columbia.
Clark is here in India for a business-cum-political visit and was in Mumbai to attend the Indian Economic Summit organised by the World Economic Forum and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
Clark admitted that in this race for Canadian metallurgical coke, which is exported extensively, China seems to have the first-mover advantage and India has so much catch-up to do. In fact, citing a specific example, she said the China Investment Corporation recently picked up a 40% stake in a huge metallurgical coal mine in the province.
“China and Japan have huge interests in the region and we are also inviting Indian companies to the province as we have a gamut of opportunities for Indian companies here,” she said.
Currently, the bilateral trade between India and Canada is pegged at $2.1 billion of which a meagre $135 million comes from British Columbia.
Clark is out to change that and says she sees no reason why the figure can’t jump by a big margin over the next few years, given the promise the province holds.
Mining is just part of the bigger story. Clark has a string of meetings lined up with several business leaders in Mumbai and Bangalore over the next two days to push opportunities in various other fields like clean energy, LNG, shale gas, digital media and film, life sciences and mining. “Besides mining, British Columbia offers great opportunities in clean energy and LNG and we are keen on Indian participation in these sectors,” she said.
Clean energy - which includes hydro, bio fuel, solar and geothermal - accounts for as much as 93% of the power generation pie in British Columbia, but so far, Indian companies have been conspicuous by their absence from the scene.
Talking about what more is in store, Clark said the province has embarked on an ambitious $25 billion (Canadian) LNG project, the first part of which will come up in 2015 and the next will be ready by 2020. “Even in this project, Chinese companies have bid aggressively, but there has been no participation from Indian firms. We want companies here to come and invest in the project,” she said.
Canada is also keen to roll out a red carpet to Bollywood. “With a massive density of Indian population in our province, we want to make Vancouver the Bollywood of the West,” she added.
Currently, the bilateral trade between India and Canada is $2.1 billion out of which merely $135 million comes from British Columbia. Clark said with the number of opportunities present in the province, she wants to increase the number manifold in the next few years.
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