Lanco Infra to buy Griffin's coal mines

The deal, according to some reports, is valued at about Austrialan $850 million

Leading power and infrastructure company Lanco Infratech on Wednesday announced that it had signed a pact with Australia's Griffin Coal to acquire coal mines for an undisclosed amount to secure fuel for its projects to take power generation capacity to 15,000 MW by 2015 from the existing 2,100 MW.

The deal, according to some reports, is valued at about Austrialan $850 million.

“Lanco Infratech through its step-down Australian subsidiary, Lanco Resources Australia, has concluded a binding agreement with Griffin Energy Group and Carpenter Mine to purchase 100 per cent shares of Griffin Coal Mining Company and Carpenter Mine,'' the company said in a statement here.

Griffin Coal in Western Australia owns the largest operational thermal coal mines there.

The assets had attracted bidders from India, Australia and China.

The company owns thermal coal mines with a production of more than four million tonnes annually (mtpa), which can be ramped up to more than 15 mtpa in the near term, post-development of evacuation.

Terming the deal as strategic for raw material security of the company's projects, Lanco Infratech CFO Suresh Kumar said: “The mine would provide raw material for domestic projects to take power generation capacity to 15,000 MW by 2015.''