The Hindu : Business : Essar to buy Aries' coal mines in Indonesia

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Friday, Mar 26, 2010
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Essar to buy Aries' coal mines in Indonesia

MUMBAI: The Essar group on Thursday said it had signed a definitive agreement to purchase the Aries' coal mines in Indonesia to secure long-term fuel linkages and capture the complete value-chain in all its power generation (Essar Power) businesses.

The deal will provide Essar Power access to an estimated resource base of 100 million tonnes of thermal coal and mineable reserves of 64 million tonnes, a press release said here.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be closed by April. “The Indonesia mines are an excellent addition to our growing portfolio of coal assets. This acquisition adds another 100 million tonnes to our existing thermal coal resource base of about 275 million tonnes in India,” Essar Group Director Anshuman Ruia said. The high-quality bituminous coal of the Aries' coal mines is suitable for power plants. Production from the Indonesian mine is expected to start within a year, the release said.

Commenting on the company's long-term objective, Mr. Ruia said this is a major step forward in Essar's strategy of securing long-term fuel linkages and capturing the complete value-chain in all its businesses.

Essar Power, a major private power producer, is now building six power projects in India, ramping-up its power generation capacity from 1,220 MW to 6,100 MW by 2012. — PTI

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