Australia's leading construction and contract mining group Leighton Holdings Ltd said Thursday its Thiess unit had won two contracts worth 1.0 billion dollars (913.7 million US) to develop and operate a coal mine in India's north-eastern coal fields.
"The Chitarpur Coal Project will involve the immediate infrastructure development and the subsequent 20 year operation of a greenfield open cut coal mine at the western end of the North Karanpura coalfield in Jharkhand State," Leighton said in a statement. Development work will begin by the end of this month, while mining is expected to start in October 2009.