CS Verma, the acting Chairman of NMDC, said the expression of interest (EoI) floated by the firm for offering 50 percent stake in its proposed 3 million tone per annum (mn tpa) steel plant received response from only two companies.
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Rastriya Ispat Nigam are the only two bidders for NMDC’s 50 per cent stake in the upcoming steel plant in Chhattisgarh.
Through the sale of stake to a strategic partner, NMDC plans to raise Rs 8,000-10,000 crore.
Since NMDC was currently a pure-play miner, it was felt necessary to bring in a partner to produce steel.
NMDC would supply iron ore to the project, its maiden venture in steel-making, from its existing mines at nearby Bailadila while coking coal, also a key raw material for steel making, was planned to be imported.
Meanwhile, NMDC plans to invest more on AustraliaÂ’s Legacy Iron Ore, in which it acquired 49.61 per cent stake for $19 million in 2011.
But the company had not taken any view on moving ahead with South African coal assets and other minerals.
Four years after entering into an agreement with South Africa’s Kopano for scouting mineral assets, NMDC was examining two proposals for acquiring coal mines in the African country.
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