UPDATE 1-India's Essar group seeks S.African coal assets

* Identified mines as potential targets, studies under way

* Needs to secure 6 mln T of coal/yr

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By Wendell Roelf

CAPE TOWN, Oct 28 (Reuters) - India's Essar Group plans to acquire coal assets in South Africa to help boost its power business in India, a senior executive said on Wednesday.

South Africa is one of the world's top coal exporters, and India is a growing export destination.

"We have an expanding and growing power business in India which requires quite a bit of feedstock and we are trying to secure that feedstock from South Africa," Firdhose Coovadia, Essar's resident director for the Middle East and Africa, told Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting in Cape Town.

He said Essar was looking at securing 6 million tonnes each year to help meet demand in India, where the group has 25-year contracts with the Indian government.

"We need to fulfil those obligations and therefore require steady and competitively priced feedstock to meet our obligations," he said.