Even before the ink dried on the Iran agreement another is signed with an Australian company

Heads of both companies seal their intention to work together

Suddenly Jamshedpur seems like the Gateway to India in the East. With Tata Steel’s interests now spanning right across Asia, the Company and its people have been extremely active in looking at new manufacturing and raw material sources beyond India.The Company has a mind boggling line up of greenfield projects planned across not just India but across continents as well.

The recent agreement in Iran opened up the possibility of mining operations. On July 18, the Company bought a 5% interest in the Carborough Downs Coal Project in the Bowen Basin of Queensland, Australia and assured itself of low ash coking coal and PCI coal, extremely suitable for steel making. Tata Steel thus, now has a footprint in Australia, Asia and Africa. The project, which has an estimated life of 14 years, will yield approximately 58 million tonnes of raw coal. The majority shareholder of the project is AMCI Holding Australia Pty Ltd., a subsidiary of AMCI International AG, a leading global producer, shipper and trader of high grade metallurgical coke.

Tata Steel’s stake will give it a proportion of the production, due to commence in 2006, over the life of the project. The agreement for purchase of the stake was signed by Mr Brian MacDonald, Managing Director, AMCI Australia Pty. Ltd, Dr T Mukherjee, Dy Managing Director (Steel) and Mr. A D Baijal, Vice President (Raw Materials), Tata Steel at Jamshedpur.

Nippon Steel to help facility planning and layout at Kalinganagar Long years as a steelmakers have enabled Tata Steel to appreciate the need for the most efficient layout for a steel plant. Therefore to ensure an appropriate plan for its proposed six million tonne greenfield at Kalinganagar in Orissa, the Company sought the help of the very best. On August 29, 2005, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC), Japan and Tata Steel for technical assistance in selection of the most appropriate facilities as well as the best layout. Experts from Nippon Steel will assist Tata Steel with the layout for the Kalinganagar Plant “NSC is the best steel technology company in the world,” was the reason cited by the Managing Director,