Indian miner Gujarat NRE Coke is increasing coal production at its Australian mines as it moves to become a top global player within the coking coal industry.
The company operates two mines in Australia's New South Wales region through its subsidiary Gujarat NRE Minerals, with combined resources of more than 560 million tonnes of premium quality hard coking coal.
Gujarat NRE had originally planned to mine about seven million tonnes of coking coal, according to Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Arun Kumar Jagatramka.
"However, considering the ongoing prices of coal, we have upped the target. We are currently revising our plans and would mine about 10-12 million tonnes of coal as part of our desire to emerge among the top ten players in the sector globally," Kumar told The Hindu.
The company is also planning to acquire half-a-dozen bulk carriers to bring coal to India.
Gujarat NRE Coke is aiming to garner a substantial share in the 25-million-tonne coke market globally, which is expected to triple to 75 million tonnes by 2011-12, writes the paper.
By Ozge Ibrahim
