Lanco settles lawsuit with Perdaman with nominal payment

New Delhi, April 29 (IANS) Infrastructure major Lanco Infratech said Monday it has settled out of court a multi-billion dollar legal dispute with Perdaman Chemicals of Australia.

"The protracted litigation for a claim of Australian $3.5 billion initiated by Perdaman Chemicals against Griffin Coal, Lanco Group and its officers, in the Supreme Court of Western Australia is now at an end," Lanco said in a statement here.

Lanco has agreed to pay Perdaman Chemicals a nominal amount of Australian $7.5 million plus legal costs to be taxed by the court, without admission of any of the latter's allegations over coal supply issues.

Lanco said the settlement was reached pursuant to the rules of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which allows for speedy resolution of such claims.

Perdaman had filed the lawsuit against Lanco in Australia, alleging non-compliance with the fuel supply accord by Griffin Coal, a 100 percent subsidiary of Lanco, for its upcoming urea plant in Western Australia.

Lanco has maintained that Perdaman's action was baseless and without any merit. If allowed to continue, this case would have taken another 12 to 14 months for the trial and judgment, resulting in significant legal costs and loss of management time, the company said.

In a separate statement, Perdaman said it was continuing with its urea project and was in advanced discussions with an alternative coal supplier.