MOIL eyes overseas acquisitions

To meet the growing demand of manganese ore by the country’s steel industry, MOIL is looking for overseas acquisitions in South Africa, Turkey, Gabon and Congo. “Last week, our team went to Turkey to scout for properties there. We are also looking at South Africa, Gabon and Congo, as the country’s steel demand will rise to about 125 million tonnes by 2012,” said G P Kundargi, the company’s director of production and planning, in Kolkata on Wednesday. By 2012, India’s manganese ore demand is expected to be around 4.5 to 5 million tonnes. South Africa has more than 80 per cent of the manganese ore deposits in the world. The company is proposing an intial public offerring (IPO) of 33,600,000 equity shares, at a price band of Rs 340-375 per share for raising up to Rs 1,238 crore. “We are also concentrating on expanding local operations. Our joint ventures with Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) are expected to be commissioned by 2012. MOIL’s investment for both the projects would be around Rs 150 crore,” said A K Mehra, MOIL director (commercial).