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India to invest $11 billion in Afghanistan
A consortium of state-owned and private Indian companies will invest $11 billion in Afghanistan to set up a steel plant. This is in addition to the $2 billion worth of infrastructure-building projects the government of India is already executing in the war-ravaged nation.
These investments make India one of the largest investors in Afghanistan.
The consortium recently bagged three out of four blocks of iron ore mines in Hajigak in Afghanistans Bamiyan province with the status of "preferred bidder." The estimated reserve of these three blocks is 1.28 billion tonnes of high-grade magnetite iron ore.
It will set up a six-million-tonnes-per annum steel plant in two phases of 3.06 million tonnes each, a 1,000-megawatt thermal power plant, and develop infrastructure like roads and lay a 200km-long rail line from the mine to the plant.
The investment will be made over the next 10 years by the consortium, led by the countrys largest public sector steel-maker Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). Apart from SAIL, the consortium comprises two more state-owned companies and four private firms.
This is the largest overseas investment being made by a consortium of Indian companies in the metals and mining sector anywhere in the world.
The proposed steel plant will be situated 200km away from the Hajigak mining area, and is dependent on the availability of other raw materials like coking coal and limestone. The Afghan government has promised to arrange for them.
SAIL Chairman CS Verma said here on Wednesday: "If we consider everything is in place, like we get the coking coal and limestone mines, then the total investment in the entire project will be $11 billion, to be spent over a period of 10 years."
The steel plant alone will cost about $7 billion.
"The immediate plan is to carry out a geological study of the mines over a three-year period at an investment of $75 million," Verma added.
The consortium has sought sovereign funds from the Indian government as there are restrictions on Indian financial institutions on providing money to a project in a country like Afghanistan.
The consortiums three state-owned companies-SAIL, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL)-together hold a majority stake of 56 per cent in the newly-created Afghan Iron and Steel Company (AFISCO). The remaining stake is held by four private companies, namely: Jindal South West, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, JSW Ispat, and Monnet Ispat & Energy.
The Island
A consortium of state-owned and private Indian companies will invest $11 billion in Afghanistan to set up a steel plant. This is in addition to the $2 billion worth of infrastructure-building projects the government of India is already executing in the war-ravaged nation.
These investments make India one of the largest investors in Afghanistan.
The consortium recently bagged three out of four blocks of iron ore mines in Hajigak in Afghanistans Bamiyan province with the status of "preferred bidder." The estimated reserve of these three blocks is 1.28 billion tonnes of high-grade magnetite iron ore.
It will set up a six-million-tonnes-per annum steel plant in two phases of 3.06 million tonnes each, a 1,000-megawatt thermal power plant, and develop infrastructure like roads and lay a 200km-long rail line from the mine to the plant.
The investment will be made over the next 10 years by the consortium, led by the countrys largest public sector steel-maker Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). Apart from SAIL, the consortium comprises two more state-owned companies and four private firms.
This is the largest overseas investment being made by a consortium of Indian companies in the metals and mining sector anywhere in the world.
The proposed steel plant will be situated 200km away from the Hajigak mining area, and is dependent on the availability of other raw materials like coking coal and limestone. The Afghan government has promised to arrange for them.
SAIL Chairman CS Verma said here on Wednesday: "If we consider everything is in place, like we get the coking coal and limestone mines, then the total investment in the entire project will be $11 billion, to be spent over a period of 10 years."
The steel plant alone will cost about $7 billion.
"The immediate plan is to carry out a geological study of the mines over a three-year period at an investment of $75 million," Verma added.
The consortium has sought sovereign funds from the Indian government as there are restrictions on Indian financial institutions on providing money to a project in a country like Afghanistan.
The consortiums three state-owned companies-SAIL, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL)-together hold a majority stake of 56 per cent in the newly-created Afghan Iron and Steel Company (AFISCO). The remaining stake is held by four private companies, namely: Jindal South West, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, JSW Ispat, and Monnet Ispat & Energy.
The Island
