Leading infrastructure company Lanco Infratech, which acquired Australia's Griffin Coal for AU$ 730 million (about Rs 3,400 crore) expects full-fledged revenues from the coal asset from the next fiscal, a top executive has said.
"We will get revenues marginally in this fiscal. It is expected to have significant portion of revenues from the next fiscal. However, we cannot quantify it now. It will take a couple of months to calculate," Lanco CFO Suresh Kumar told PTI here.
He said the company had made the upfront amount of AU$ 480 million so far for the acquisition of mines and the remaining AU$ 250, which will be raised through internal accruals that would be paid over a period of four years.
"The acquisition will meet 30% of our overall coal requirement till 2015," Lanco CFO Suresh Kumar had said earlier.
The company would require 40-50 million tonne of coal over the next 4 years to fuel its power projects in India.
Griffin's mines are expected to give Lanco access to 4 million tonne of thermal coal, which can be increased to more than 15 million tonne, Lanco said in a statement.
The asset is expected to bring in significant cost savings for Lanco as the cost of coal at Griffin is estimated to be at about AU$ 80-85 per tonne, as against the current market price of AU$ 115-120.
In addition to ramping up production, Lanco will focus on improving the infrastructure around the mines for better supply logistics. Improving the port and rail networks for transporting coal from the mines to various destinations is a part of the plan.
Lanco also plans to strengthen the rail corridor between the Collie coal mine and Bunbury, which would enhance cargo movement around the region.
Meanwhile, according to the Australian media, another Indian Infra major GVK is in the race for acquiring Wesfarmers' Premier coal division in Australia.
Premier Coal produces about 4 million tonne of coal each year from the Collie Coal Basin in Western Australia. The mine is located about 200 kilometres south of Perth
GVK lost the race to Lanco in the Griffin auction and is among the contenders to buy Gina Rinehart's $2 billion Kevin's Corner coal project in Queensland.
When contacted a spokesperson of GVK declined to comment on the development. "We cannot comment on this right now. Till we decide on that, we cannot say anything," the spokesperson said.