GVK on Wednesday said it will tie up all funds by the third quarter of the next calendar year for its proposed $10 billion pit-to-port investment in Queensland in Australia.

“We got all our approvals last week. From this week, we are starting our financing programme and construction contracts. Q3 of the next calendar year will be financial closure and construction would start,” G. V. Sanjay Reddy, Vice-Chairman of GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd, told mediapersons.

Reddy said the company would raise debt to fund the project. He did not disclose the volumes or equity structure for the pit-to-port project.

GVK acquired the Australian coal mine in Queensland with 8 billion tonnes of reserve for $1.26 billion from Hancock Coal Pty Ltd. The first phase includes developing a 30-million tonne per annum mine, 500 km of railway line and a 60-million tonne per annum port.

The mine is expected to start production from 2015-16, a GVK official said.

GVK on Wednesday signed contracts with Korea’s Samsung C&T and Australia’s Smithbridge Group to build a 60-million tonne per annum T3 port for the Alpha Coal Project in Queensland, Australia.

The port contract is worth around $2 billion, Reddy said. The other construction contracts for the mine infrastructure, wash plant and rail will be announced in next few months, the company said.

The project has been signed during the ongoing visit of the Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard MP to India. The port is expected to be ready to deliver its first coal 36 months after the commencement of construction.

Samsung C&T will provide majority of the steel and supply ship loaders from Korea and other countries. Smithbridge will be responsible for engineering, marine works and providing local Australian expertise.

Recently, GVK received environmental clearance for its Alpha Coal and rail project. The development of GVK’s terminal 3 at the Port of Abbot Point has also been given a go-ahead by Australian Government.

siddhartha.s@thehindu.co.in

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