India’s diversified Aditya Birla Group is likely to bid for Australian coal miner Whitehaven Coal. The group has been selected in the first round, and the company is planning to formalise the deal. The Sydney-based Whitehaven, which launched a formal process to find a buyer in October, said last month it had received a number of non-binding bids and shortlisted suitors would now conduct due diligence. Chinese firms Shenhua Group, Yanzhou Coal Mining Co and China Coal, and India’s Reliance Power were also reported to be interested in Whitehaven. The Aditya Birla Group, a telecoms-to-cement conglomerate, has thermal coal requirements for the group companies Hindalco, India’s top aluminium producer, and UltraTech Cement, the country’s largest cement producer.