OREANDA-NEWS. May 14, 2012. Indian Maharatna Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Mineral Resource & Energy (MMRE) of the Government of Mongolia at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for exploring business opportunities in the mining & steel sector. The MoU was signed by H.E. Balkhuu Bataa, Director (Mining & Heavy Industry), Policy Dept., Govt. of Mongolia, on behalf of MMRE and Mr Rakesh Kulshreshtha, SAIL Executive Director (Corporate Planning), in the presence of SAIL Chairman Mr C.S. Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel Mr. U.P. Singh and other delegates from India and Mongolia.

Speaking on the occasion, SAIL Chairman Mr C.S. Verma said that SAIL is happy to be a partner in Mongolia's economic development, and commended the Mongolian government for its initiatives in developing their mining sector, which shall serve to be "crucial drivers of FDI" for the country, while also meeting the mineral needs of India and other Asian economies. MMRE Vice-Minister Ms Ts Garamajav termed the MoU as a welcome step in cooperation between the two countries and hoped that joint feasibility report could help Mongolia set up a mineral processing industry.

As per the MoU, MMRE will provide information on iron ore and coal deposits in Mongolia to SAIL and will offer options of locations and size of steel manufacturing facility for pre-feasibility study. A joint pre-feasibility study for setting up of mineral processing facility for iron ore and coal, both coking and thermal, in Mongolia, and downstream steel making facilities for domestic consumption and trade, will be taken up by MMRE and SAIL. SAIL, on the other hand, will select the best available technology to treat Mongolian iron ore and coal deposits based on the feasibility study. The MoU envisages exploration of opportunities for investments to be made by SAIL either individually or in a consortium with other entities to develop mineral processing/ steel manufacturing facility in Mongolia.

In November 2011, a high-level delegation from Mongolia had visited SAIL's Bhilai Steel Plant and held discussions with officials of SAIL and Ministry of Steel, Government of India.