POWER sector financing company Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Railways technical advisory wing RITES, on Thursday, signed an MoU to jointly import coal from countries, including Africa, to ease scarcity of the fuel in view of rising demand by electricity generators. An SPV may be formed later in partnership with other domestic and foreign companies for acquiring mining rights, outsourcing coal mining activities and import coal for sale within the country. The partnership will bring together financing muscle of PFC and engineering, design development and consultancy experience of RITES required for making inroads into the coal business. "Coal is likely to remain the main fuel for power generation over the next several years. Already there is a mismatch in demand-supply for coal. PFC and RITES would try to plug this mismatch through their initiative,' an official in the power ministry said. To start with, the two companies would explore possibilities of importing coal from African countries and other mineral rich countries. A formal corporate structure may be formed later depending on the demand for fuel in the country. The two sides would also facilitate in the development of port network and augmentation of Railway connectivity, crucial for transporting coal from ports to user centres. They would also provide advisory services to Indian companies in acquiring mining rights overseas. As per the tie-up, RITES, besides being a technical partner, would identify countries where possibility of owning coal mines exists and excavation and transportation of coal is feasible for importing coal to India.