India Steel Firms Get Three Afghanistan Iron Ore Blocks

[Filmmaker]

NEW DELHI -- A consortium of Indian steel companies, led by the Steel Authority of India Ltd., has received rights to mine three of four iron ore blocks put up for bidding, Afghanistan's Ministry of Mines said late Monday.

The consortium--which also includes NMDC Ltd., Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd., Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd., JSW Steel Ltd., Jindal Steel Power Ltd. and JSW Ispat Steel Ltd.--received mining rights for the Hajigak iron ore deposits, situated in the mountainous Bamyan province, 130 kilometers west of Kabul.

Canada's Kilo Gold Company won the right to mine the fourth block.

The ministry said: "As per defined procedures, Afghanistan will launch the contract negotiation with the winning bidders to finalize the contract details."


India Steel Firms Get Three Afghanistan Iron Ore Blocks - WSJ.com

 

[Filmmaker]

Great business opportunity for us.

 

[Filmmaker]

India tastes a big slice of Afghan pie

New Delhi, Nov. 28: The Hamid Karzai government today awarded an Indian consortium mining rights to develop three of the four blocks of Afghanistan’s huge Hajigak iron ore deposits, signalling a greater role for Delhi in the war-torn country.

Till now, India has mainly focused its aid to Afghanistan in developing smaller infrastructure projects like culverts and roads.

Sources said the contract awarded to the Afghan Iron and Steel Consortium (AFISCO), led by state-run steel maker SAIL, had the potential to become the landlocked country’s single-biggest foreign investment project.

In a statement, Afghanistan’s ministry of mines said the development of the blocks was “expected to bring billions of dollars in mining investment and thousands of new jobs to Afghanistan”.

The statement said the companies had also “pledged substantial support for railway, power, and other infrastructure development within the country, as well as major support for education and training programmes”.

The Hajigak blocks, in the mountainous Bamyan province 130km west of Kabul, are one of Asia’s largest iron ore deposits that are yet to be mined. According to a 1960 estimate, the blocks hold an estimated 1.8 billion tonnes of iron ore.

The contract came within a month after Delhi and Kabul signed a strategic partnership agreement on Indian investments in the Afghan mining sector. According to the announcement, the consortium has been awarded the rights to blocks B, C, and D, with block A going to Canadian firm Kilo Gold Company.

Sources said the Indian consortium — which also includes the National Mineral Development Corporation, Monnet Ispat and Energy Limited, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, JSW Steel Limited, Jindal Steel Power Limited and JSW Ispat Steel Limited — could invest $6 billion in the mines, construct a steel plant and a railway network.

The development, unlikely to be welcomed in Islamabad which resents closer Delhi-Kabul ties, signals a much greater role for India in Afghanistan in the years to come, particularly after the scheduled departure of Nato forces by 2014.

However, it would also mean more Indians will have to be sent to Afghanistan at a time violence in the region has peaked.

Over the past couple of years, Delhi had looked to scale down its investments in Afghanistan because of terror attacks that targeted Indian interests. India has already pledged $2 billion in Afghan infrastructure and development projects, including erecting a new parliament building.


India tastes a big slice of Afghan pie

 

[Filmmaker]

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[OrionHunter]

Great business opportunity for us.

That's until the Taliban take over the reins in Afghanistan!