By Neena Bhandari
Sydney, 8.10.2011 (Business Standard): High quality coal, good infrastructure, political stability and the ease of doing business has made Australia the preferred coal supplier for India, with many Indian private companies acquiring mines and setting up joint ventures to tap into the continent’s vast reserves.
“With large high-quality reserves of all coal types, Indian investment is a valuable component in the rapidly expanding Australian coal industry,” Arun Kumar Jagatramka, chairman and managing director of Gujarat NRE Coke, told this correspondent.
Gujarat NRE Coke owns and operates two hard-coking coal mines in New South Wales. It produces 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of coking coal and plans to increase it to around six mtpa by 2015. This would make the company one of the top 10 hard-coking coal producers in the world. “With rising demand for coal of all forms and the emerging supply challenges of Indonesia, India should continue to seek opportunities in Australia”, says Jagatramka.