Lanco Infra buys Australian coal mining company

Lanco Infratech on Wednesday said itsAustralian subsidiary, Lanco Resources Australia, has agreed to acquire GriffinCoal Mining Company and Carpenter Mine Management for an undisclosed amount.

Hyderabad-based Lanco Infratech through itsstep down Australian subsidiary has concluded the binding agreement to buy 100per cent shares of Griffin Coal Mining Company and Carpenter Mine Management,Lanco Infratech said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Griffin Coal owns the largest operationalthermal coal mines in Western Australia. The mine, at present, produces over 4 mtpa(millon tonnes per annum) of coal, which can be ramped up to over 15 mtpa inthe near term, post development of evacuation infrastructure, the filing added.

"It is a strategic acquisition for usand will add to power development. Presently, the mine produces 5 milliontonnes of coal per annum out of which 1 million is exported to countries like China and India.

We intend to utilise the coal for domesticrequirement and will be exporting the surplus quantity in due course. We planto take our power generation capacity to 15,000 MW by 2015 from existing 2100MW," CFO Lanco Infratech Suresh Kumar told PTI.

Shares of Lanco Infratech were trading atRs 62.90 on BSE, up by 3.11 per cent from the previous close.