Tata Steel aims at investing at early stage of mine

New Delhi : Entirely reliant on non-captive sources to feed its plants in Europe, Tata Steel will stick to long-term policy of being an "early stage investor" when it comes to acquiring raw material assets, a senior company official said. Tata Steel Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Koushik Chatterjee, talking to reporters here last evening, said that the firm always prefers to invest in the early stage of a mine, rather than putting in a huge sum in a developed one.

"We are an early stage investor. We want to buy assets which are in their early stage of development... We make them operational," Chatterjee said pointing out company's strategy on securing raw material assets. In the backdrop of rising raw material prices, Tatas plan of action might not bring in an immediate impact on company's bottomline; but in the long-run, the strategy would bear fruit as assets are becoming dearer in the wake of scarcity. "We keep on looking out for opportunities," Chatterjee said when asked if there was any raw material assets acquisition on the cards.