Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) will head a consortium of six companies that will bid for iron ore deposits in Afghanistan, chairman C.S. Verma said on Tuesday, a venture that may have the backing of the government for geopolitical reasons.
Verma said the consortium includes NMDC Ltd and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd and a source in SAIL said the private companies are Tata Steel Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd.
“The very fact that so many of us are bidding shows how serious we are about getting the asset,” Verma said on the sidelines of a steel conference. “It is a bid in an overseas country. We had to take more time to submit it,” he added when asked why it has yet to apply.
As part of opening up its economy, Afghanistan invited bids for Hajigak deposits, estimated to have 1.8 billion tonnes of iron ore reserves earlier this year, with a deadline of August, later forwarded to 4 September.
Though the country is still struggling with insurgency, the deposits are attractive for Indian companies desperate for growth with their local expansion plans facing hurdles over land acquisition and environmental clearances.
Government officials said India is keen to clinch the deposit as it fears Chinese companies may win it which could help China establish its dominance in the neighbourhood. Some perks such as soft loans are being suggested by government officials who are keen that SAIL wins the bid.
China’s top copper producer, Jiangxi Copper Co., together with China Metallurgical Group Corp., in 2007 won the contract to develop the Aynak copper mine south of Kabul— which is due to start production in 2014.
The official in SAIL said that the consortium partners will be signing a formal agreement under which the three government companies will have a 52% equity stake.
The same partners have also agreed to build a steel plant that SAIL has proposed, though the equity structure for that will be decided latter.
The 3 million tonnes steel plant is a separate plan to be vetted by the Indian and Afghanistan governments which would also entail construction of infrastructure and coal mines.
The Ferron Baptist church recently held a summer bible camp. Fourteen students from Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C. came to the area to help with the school. They will put on bible camps in four places including: St. George, Tooele, Ferron and Kaysville. There are two groups of students who came west to help. They drove out in a van. Ethan Birney said, "It's been really beautiful out here, we're enjoying our time in Ferron."
The camp includes, bible study, crafts, games and activities and scripture memorization. The students also have snacks each day. They spend time at the Ferron park playing games.
Pastor Tim Lacock spent time each day with the campers to teach them a bible story. The camp was centered around the sea and the theme was, "Come Sail The Seven Seas during Vacation Bible School at First Baptist Church." The campers learned new songs, listened to stories of people in different countries, made a craft each day, played games, met new friends, enjoyed snacks and a Bible lesson each day.
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