Lanco Infra hits out at Perdaman for A$3.5 bn lawsuit against ICICI Bank

Lanco Infratech on Thursday said that ICICI Bank has no contractual relationship with Australia's Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers and the latter's attempt to drag ICICI Bank  in its ongoing legal battle with Lanco was a desperate attempt of greenmail.

Greenmail is referred to money that is paid to an entity to make it stop an aggressive behaviour.

"The current attempt of going against ICICI Bank is another desperate attempt of greenmail in frustration and this action against one of the most reputed institutions of India will further damage Perdaman's credibility and future prospects," Lanco said.

Lanco's clarification came after Perdaman said it had launched a damages claim against ICICI Bank seeking A$3.5 billion (around Rs 20,185.50 crore) in its ongoing legal battle with India's Lanco Infratech over a stalled fertiliser project. Perdaman said in an email that it had filed its application in a federal court in Perth, Australia, on January 2.

Lanco said the case against ICICI Bank has not yet been admitted by the Australian court.  

"Perdaman started litigation in May 2011 to damage our reputation. And in the last 19 months, Perdaman has almost lost its confidence of winning this case, which will be decided against them shortly," Lanco said in a statement.

The legal battle between Lanco and Perdaman dates back to May 2011 and centres around a coal supply deal for Perdaman's proposed coal-to-urea project in Western Australia.

Lanco Infratech's unit Griffin Coal had terminated a coal supply pact with Perdaman as the latter failed to meet a condition to achieve financial closure.


(With inputs from Reuters)