【New Delhi】The passage of a new mining law will enable Indian companies and Kabul to begin negotiations on the first phase of an ambitious iron ore project in Afghanistan.
“The new mining law has been approved by Parliament nearly two months ago. As per our Constitution, it needs to be signed by the President. This will be done in a month or so,”Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister for Mines and Petroleum Jamil Hares said in New Delhi on the 8th of August.
The Steel Authority of India Ltd-led Afghan Iron and Steel Consortium (AFISCO) will soon re-commence negotiations with the Afghanistan Government to set up a plant with a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum and an investment of $1.14 billion.
Hamid Karzai is nominally the President of Afghanistan while two candidates seeking to succeed him are locked in a dispute over the auditing of votes in a recently held election. Mr. Hares was here to attend an Assocham event.
○Lenders want to oversee Bhushan Steel operations
【Mumbai】Stung by the crisis arising out of the Syndicate Bank bribery case, lenders have gone into a fire-fighting mode to avoid fresh bad loans from their exposure to Bhushan Steel, one of the most indebted steel companies in the country.
With the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arresting Neeraj Singhal, Vice-Chairman of Bhushan Steel, in connection with the alleged Syndicate Bank bribery case, banks are considering engaging the services of a management agency to look after the day-to-day operations of the company to ensure that their R40,000-crore loan exposure is not jeopardised.
State Bank of India (SBI), with an exposure of R6,000 crore to Bhushan Steel, has proposed an external management agency be appointed to oversee the company's day-to-day operations. The proposal needs approval of the Bhushan Steel board.
"The banking sector’s exposure to Bhushan Steel is close to R40,000 crore. The suggestion I have made to other banks is we will bring in a management agency that will oversee the day-to-day running of the unit," Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman of SBI, leader of the consortium of banks that provided working capital loans to the steel maker, told the media on the 8th August.
Fifty-one banks have given loans to the company as part of two lenders’ consortiums – the term loan consortium is led by Punjab National Bank while the working capital consortium is led by State Bank of India.
For the year ended March 2014, Bhushan Steel reported a net profit of just R59 crore due to a 29% rise in finance costs to R1,663 crore from R1,287 crore in FY13. Net revenues were R9,276 crore.
○Sesa conducting feasibility study for steel plant in K’taka
【New Delhi】Sesa Sterlite said on the 8th of August it was carrying out a feasibility study for setting up a steel plant in Karnataka even as it sees lots of opportunities to improve and strengthen its iron ore business in the world's fourth-largest steel- making nation.
“We are doing feasibility study to assess what will be the right size, configuration and what will be the product mix,” company CEO Tom Albanese told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by Assocham here. The plan to foray into steel sector of India, which aims to treble its capacity to 300 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2015, falls under the long-term plan of the company which does not confine itself to just iron ore mining, he said.
○Loan to Sesa Sterlite arm in line with regulations: Tom Albanese
【New Delhi】Vedanta Resources, the $13-billion metals and mining giant, is embroiled in a controversy, with its petroleum arm, Cairn India, extending a $1.25-billion loan to a subsidiary of sister concern Sesa Sterlite.
Minority shareholders are complaining the company didn't make proper disclosure and Cairn could maximise investor returns by paying dividends, rather than extending a loan at a "lower" rate of three per cent more than the Libor.
Following Cairn's stock shedding 10 per cent since the loan announcement on July 23, Vedanta Resources CEO Tom Albanese said, "the loan to Sesa Sterlite arm is in line with regulations."
【News source】
New mining law helpful to India, Afghanistan companies
New Afghan mining law paves way for $1.14 billion SAIL-led steel plant
New Afghan mining law eases path for SAIL-led firms’ Rs 7,000-cr plan
Lenders want to oversee Bhushan Steel operations
Bank may rope in agency to monitor day-to-day running of Bhushan Steel
Bhushan shocker: R40,000 crore, 51 lenders at risk
Sesa conducting feasibility study for steel plant in K’taka
Sesa conducting feasibility to set up steel plant in K'taka
Loan to Sesa Sterlite arm in line with regulations: Tom Albanese
Free download of "The Origin of Christianity"
Readers' Voice
Your Comments
SEAnewsFacebook
SEAnewsGoogle