A number of Indian companies, both pri-nvate and state-owned, will be bidding for nHajigak iron ore deposits in Afghanistan, a ntop official at the Indian mines ministry said nTuesday. “The Afghanistan government is nkeen that Indian companies invest in the ncountry’s mining sector. In a recent meeting nwith the industry ... government companies nof both steel and mining sectors [showed] ninterest in bidding for the Hajigak mines,” nsaid S Vijay Kumar, secretary at the mines nministry. The firms include state-run Steel nAuthority of India Ltd.(SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat nNigam Limited of Visakhapatnam (RINL), nNMDC Ltd. and private sector’s Tata Steel, nEssar, JSW Steel and Jindal Steel and nPower. The Afghan government invited nexpression of interest (EOI) for Hajigak nmines, which have 1.8 billion mt of iron ore nreserves. The last date for submitting bids nfor EOI is January 13. “It is a preliminary nstage where companies will register their EOI nfor prospecting,” said Kumar, adding that at na later stage, a consortium would be formed nbetween state-run and private companies nfor jointly developing these assets and the nministry would facilitate it. Hajigak is situated nin Afghanistan’s Bamyan province, which is na very tough terrain with no infrastructure nand the companies would need huge invest-nments and required expertise to develop the nmines, said Kumar.
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