SAIL-led group hopes to dig into Afghan mines

New Delhi : 07 Sep 11 | 01:20 AM:A consortium of leading Indian steel and iron ore producers, led by Steel Authority of India (SAIL), today said it was hopeful of getting selected as the preferred bidder for Afghanistan's Hajigak iron ore deposits.

Bids for the 1.8 billion tonne iron ore mines were opened today, but the results will be announced on October 4.

The SAIL-led consortium includes state-owned NMDC Ltd, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, private sector companies such as JSW Steel Ltd, JSW Ispat, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd and Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd. Tata Steel, was initially a part of the consortium and had later opted out.