Indian consortium to hold talks in Kabul over project

KIRIBURU ( JHARKHAND): The Afghan Iron and Steel Consortium, a group of Indian companies that won rights to mine Afghanistan's biggest iron ore deposit, will hold talks on the project in Kabul next month.


As not much progress was made over mining of the three Hajigak blocks at the central Bamyan province of Afghanistan, the consortium, led by the state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), will hold talks in March 12-13 in Kabul, SAIL Chairman C S Verma said yesterday.

He was here on a visit to the SAIL-owned iron-ore mines at Kiriburu and Meghahatuburu in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand and Bolani in Odisha.

Verma expressed hope that the talks would help move the project forward.

The consortium consists of NMDC, Monnet Ispat & Energy, RINL, JSW Steel, Jindal Steel & Power, JSW Ispat, besides SAIL.

Earlier, in a strategically significant development, Afghanistan government had awarded mining rights for three Hajigak blocks at the central Bamyan province to an Indian consortium led by state-run SAIL, while the fourth block was given to a Canadian firm, Kilo Gold Company.

The Hajigak resources contain an estimated 1.8 billion tonnes of iron ore.

The Afghan government had invited bids to award development rights for four mines in Hajigak last year. The Indian consortium had proposed setting up mines and a steel plant in the war-torn country.