Tata Steel has joined hands with fellow major Indian steelmakers JSW, Jindal Steel, SAIL and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) to form a consortium to bid for the Hajigak iron ore deposits located in Afghanistan's Bamiyan province. The deposits, located 130 km west of Kabul, contain an estimated 1.3-1.8 billion mt of high quality magnetite iron ore with 62-63 percent iron content.
These deposits are considered to be the second largest deposit of iron ore in the world. According to the agreement, the two state-run Indian steelmakers (SAIL and RINL) will hold about 60 percent of the total share in the consortium, while the three private players will share the remainder equally.
Other Indian firms such as government-owned National Mineral Development Corporation and Essar Steel were also shortlisted for the bid, which allows the successful firm to export the ore.
While the Afghan government has called for global bids for mining the reserves for over a 30-year period, the consortium members feel that a bid that will go beyond just mining to some form of value addition and creation of more jobs in the war-ravaged country could have a better chance in the evaluation.
Bids are due for submission in August of the current year.