KEY POINTS
- Coal India is opening its first overseas trading office in Singapore to expand into iron ore and critical minerals.
- The move supports overseas asset buys and cuts Indian reliance on China for lithium and bauxite.
- India has closed just one overseas lithium deal, in Argentina in 2024, despite years of effort.
Coal India, the world’s largest coal producer, is setting up its first overseas trading office in Singapore as it pushes into iron ore and critical minerals, two sources told Reuters.
The state-run miner has applied to register the office with Singapore authorities, and it wants the base to support overseas mineral acquisitions, the sources said, seeking anonymity because the talks are not public. However, Coal India did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Diversifying beyond coal
According to the sources, the Singapore hub would help Coal India expand its critical minerals business, chase overseas assets and back its new iron ore arm. Moreover, the move fits a wider push by Indian state firms to secure supplies of minerals such as lithium and bauxite and cut their reliance on China, even though those efforts have so far borne little fruit.
Still, the company is already branching out at home. This month it won an iron ore block in Odisha through a competitive auction, its first step into iron ore mining. Furthermore, last week Reuters reported that Coal India was weighing the purchase of a Canadian Wealth Minerals unit with lithium assets in Chile, a key battery metal for electric vehicles and storage.
Global hunt, limited success so far
Consequently, the miner is scanning several mineral-rich regions. According to one source, it is eyeing bauxite in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa, along with rare earths, while it studies lithium in Chile and other critical minerals in Canada and Australia, though those talks remain preliminary.
However, India’s record abroad remains thin. Despite years of effort to lock in strategic minerals for its clean-energy and manufacturing goals, the country has closed just one overseas lithium deal, covering five blocks in Argentina in 2024. Therefore, the Singapore office marks a fresh attempt to turn ambition into concrete supply.
