International Coal Ventures Ltd. should buy some coal mines before the end of this fiscal year as the company created specifically to acquire coal assets abroad hasn't struck any deals so far, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said Friday.

Singh's comment comes a day after International Coal Ventures appointed Citibank to advise it on a counter-bid to Rio Tinto Ltd.'s (RIO.AU) A$3.9 billion takeover offer for Perth-based Riversdale Mining Ltd. (RIV.AU).

"It has been some time since its [International Coal Ventures'] incorporation. It is high time for them to show results," Singh told Dow Jones Newswires when asked if the government would back the company.

He, however, didn't name Riversdale as a potential target.

International Coal Ventures was formed in May 2009 as a joint venture by Steel Authority of India Ltd. (500113.BY), NTPC Ltd. (532555.BY), NMDC Ltd. (526371.BY), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. and Coal India Ltd. (533278.BY), all users or suppliers of coal.

-By Saurabh Chaturvedi, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-11-43563335; saurabh.chaturvedi@dowjones.com
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