Going against the grain and against his own expert body, environment minister Jairam Ramesh has given the thumbs up to India's second biggest producer, Steel Authority of India, to mine the remaining half of the Chiria deposits in Jharkhand. The area is estimated to hold more than 1 billion tonnes of iron ore.
Earlier, the minister had overturned the recommendations of his own ministry with regards to a steel project by South Korean firm Posco in Orissa.
Close on the heels of this announcement, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has said it will set up a three million tonne per annum plant in Mongolia, provided the Asian nation ensures linkages to raw materials to feed the proposed facility.
With an investment outlay of $ 10 billion, SAIL has said it will set up three small plants - in Oman, Indonesia and Mongolia. The move is meant to allow the Indian major to use locally available raw materials and help the firm get an inside into the local markets.
"Talks are on in this regard. If the Mongolian government provides us raw material linkages and land, we will put up a plant to cater to the need of the land,'' SAIL chairman C S Verma told reporters. Read the full report here.
Source: Shivom Seth, Mineweb.com, Mumbai.
