Coal India has some big plans under its sleeves. The country's largest producer of coal is urgently looking for companies with which it can form strategic alliance.

The information has been released by the Director of Marketing of the company to a news agency, Reuters.

The state-owned company is looking for partnerships which would be in form of equity or offtake deals. It is already in talks with many coal mining companies in Australia, Indonesia and the US. As of now it has already short-listed ten firms, the official said.

However, the official also made it clear that the alliances are not being done to bridge the huge deficit that has happened in the coal sector. It is only going for these contracts so that it is able to fulfill the requirements of Central Electricity Authority.

As of now, India faces a shortfall of 81 million tons.

Coal India is expected to issue international tenders for buying 10 million tons.

Meanwhile, all the power companies are in dire need of coal supply. And NTPC, the biggest power producer, has said on Wednesday that it may require buying more coal since its demand is expected to rise.