India To Get 9M Tons Of Appalachian Coal Annually

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A private-sector agreement could help India avert future power outages by importing 9 million tons of coal a year from Kentucky and West Virginia.

Gov. Steve Beshear announced the 25-year, $7 billion agreement between India's Abhijeet Group and Kentucky-based Booth Energy Group and River Trading Co.

Beshear said the deal is good news for hundreds of Appalachian coal miners who have lost their jobs because of a decline in domestic coal sales. It's also good news for India where power outages last week affected over 600 million people.

India is a major coal producer, but it can't keep up with demand from steel mills and power plants without imports.