Madhu Koneru Building A Road To Link 3 Giants

1
Madhu Koneru Building A Road To Link 3 Giants

• Group Executive DirectorTrimex GroupExecutive
  Vice ChairmanMEC Coal,IndonesiaManaging
  DirectorAl-Ghanem Industrial Company
  Ltd.,KuwaitFormer Director and Member of
  Strategic CommitteePadaeng Industries
  PLC,Thailand

Madhu Koneru
2
Madhu Koneru Building A Road To Link 3 Giants
Madhu Koneru is building a road to the future
that will bring together the financial heft of
the Middle East, the technological know-how of a
rising India and the vast natural resources of
emerging Indonesia. The 800 million
infrastructure project his company, RAK Minerals
Metals Investments, is undertaking in
Kalimantan will provide better access to the rich
coal deposits there and create new opportunities
and thousands of jobs. The project includes a
135-kilometer rail line, a road and a coal
terminal. The next stage of the project will
include a 3 billion smelter and 1,400-megawatt
power plant, which Koneru said would create 3,000
new jobs in the future. This is not rocket
science, he said. We are developing traditional
infrastructure that creates employment and
industrial growth using Indonesian coal as the
base.
3
Madhu Koneru Building A Road To Link 3 Giants
RMMI, a joint venture between Indias Trimex
Group and the United Arab Emirates, has been
working on the railway project for the past two
years and expects to complete it in the third
quarter of 2010. It hopes to have the smelter and
power plant completed in the next five
years. RMMI was founded in 2007 with an
investment of 200 million, and has grown into a
global conglomerate with an asset base of more
than 4 billion. The company has expanded into
Africa, Europe, India and the Middle East. Last
year, it established Middle East Coal to manage
the groups coal investments in Indonesia
. Koneru said the global credit crunch had not
affected the appetite among Middle Eastern
investors for opportunities in this region, and
in Indonesia in particular. RMMI aims to be at
the forefront of the coming wave of investment to
link the Middle East, India and Indonesia.
4
Madhu Koneru Building A Road To Link 3 Giants
The combination of India, UAE and Indonesia is
the right mix and is a proven formula, he said.
Its an example of how things can move forward
between three countries that are so close to each
other. India, he said, is a big market for
Indonesian coal and thus has a natural interest
in being part of the growth story in this
country. India imports 100 million tons of coal
each year to feed its growing energy needs and
Indonesia is one of its biggest suppliers. Doing
business in Indonesia, he said, had its own
unique challenges, but was no different from
other countries RMMI has investments in, such as
Congo and Armenia. It took the company four
months to get the necessary paperwork done for
its railway line and coal terminal.
5
Madhu Koneru Building A Road To Link 3 Giants
But not all of its investments in Indonesia have
proceeded so smoothly. RMMIs 1.5 billion
investment in the Tanjung Api-Api integrated port
project in South Sumatra hit some snags over land
acquisition for the development. In South
Sumatra, we have had some problems with the land
for the port, but when that issue is cleared we
will go back, Koneru said. Infrastructure
specialist Scott Younger, chief commissioner of
Glendale Partners, said the project would open up
access through the heart of East Kalimantan,
where the development of smaller and mid-sized
coal mines has proceeded slowly due to a lack of
supporting infrastructure.
6
Madhu Koneru Building A Road To Link 3 Giants
The RMMI railway is expected to connect six coal
mines in the region, but it is unclear how many
of these mines have signed up so far. This
project has been on the cards for a long time and
RMMI are the right people to develop it,
Younger said. Given the mountainous terrain and
thick rainforest in Kalimantan, the region is
largely uninhabited, except for local tribes. It
is hoped that with the road and railway track,
the region may attract migrants as new industries
open up, fuelling development and urban
growth. Source http//www.thejakartaglobe.com/
archive/building-a-road-to-link-3-giants/278805/