News: Tatas to cover more ground in S Africa

(DNA 23/08/2006) Mumbai - The Tata group is eyeing huge investments in the mining sector in South Africa, and is exploring opportunities for mining manganese ore, iron ore and coal there.

In fact, the group, which recently entered Nigeria and Kenya, has eight more African countries on its radar screen.

Raman Dhawan, managing director, Tata Africa, the holding company for the group’s investments in Africa, has said that the possibility of “greenfield projects for mining ores” were at an exploratory stage.

A tangible proposal might come up within “two or three months,” he has said. The Tatas’ move to invest more in South Africa follows a slew of investments it had made there earlier. Tata Africa’s total investments in the country add up to $135 million (Rs 620 crore).

If one adds up the investments by VSNL and Tata Steel, which has invested directly in the country and not through Tata Africa, the group’s cumulative investment in South Africa would be around $324 million (Rs 1,500 crore). So far, the Tata group has built its base in the country through a series of greenfield projects.

Tata Africa has said that its funds to invest in Africa will be sourced entirely through internal accruals and debt. Tata Africa says the group is now open to making acquisitions to increase its presence in the country. It has also recently unveiled plans to build three hotels in South Africa, through a partnership with a local group, at an investment of $180 million (Rs 828 crore).

On Monday, in a high-profile ceremony in Richards Bay, Tata Steel had flagged off its ferro-chrome project.

The ferro-chrome plant will produce 1,35,000 tonnes of high carbon ferrochrome, annually, during phase 1, from the ore imported from India and Iran. Somdeb Banerjee, managing director of Tata Steel KZN, said that if the phase II expansion was approved, Tata Steel might consider mixing South African and imported chrome ore for use in the two additional furnaces.