An unknown company was reportedly awarded a contract for drilling a further 30,000 metre in the Mozambique mines belonging to Coal India (CIL).

In order to assess reserves of its mines in Mozambique, the state-run miner wanted to drill the area further and for this purpose it invited bids from reputed companies in February.

A subsidiary of Coal India, Coal India African (CIAL), wanted to take up exploration in the Tete Province, Mozambique through outsourcing.

This move is part of CIL's strategy to acquire and develop coal blocks abroad in order to boost its production of the raw material.

Earlier, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal asked CIL to acquire overseas coal mines aggressively to meet the energy requirements of the nation. In order to tide over the shortages of the fossil fuel, the government is also proposing to import coal. The demand-supply gap of coal is estimated to go up to 200 mn t in 2016-17.

In August, 2009, CIAL secured a five-year licence for exploration and development of two coal blocks -A1 and A2- at Motaize, in Tete Province of Mozambique. These two mines are spread over 200 sq km and their exploration may take over two years, reports suggest.