Jindal gets land for Steel and Iron Ore Mine Project in Bolivia

      New Delhi, August 20, 2010: Jindal Steel, Bolivia, a subsidiary of Parliament member Naveen Jindal led Jindal Steel & Power Limited has secured the land to start its 2.1 billion dollar steel and power plant in Bolivia.

     The company has resumed activities to develop the El Mutun iron ore deposit and steel plant project in Santa Cruz area of Bolivia.

     President of Bolivia Evo Morales has signed a law ceding land that Jindal Steel, Bolivia required to develop a Steel Plant, DRI plant and Iron Ore Pelletisation Plant, JSPL officials said.

     The addendum was signed in the eastern city of Santa Cruz alongside executives from the company.

     The investments in El Mutun have been on hold because of non-availability of land since the Company signed a contract in 2007 to mine iron ore deposit and implement the Steel Project, they said.

     Land was one of the key enablers for starting work on the steel project in the Bolivia even as it got access to iron ore mines in the Latin American country. The Bolivian government has now provided an additional 3000 acres of land for the project in addition to around 1000 acres provided earlier. A total of about 5,000 acres is required for the project and the company needs the remaining land for putting a power generation unit close to the steel plant.

      JSPL had secured the development rights of El Mutun mines, one of the world’s single biggest iron-ore deposits with reserves of more than 40 billion tonnes, in 2007. The 40-year contract that gave the company the right to mine about half of the reserves of iron ore also includes setting up an integrated 1.7 MTPA Steel Plant, a 6 MTPA Sponge Iron and 10 MTPA Iron Ore Pellet plant in Bolivia. This will be the largest investment by an Indian company in South America and also the largest investment by a foreign company on a single project in Bolivia.