Australian mining giant Rio Tinto plans to invest $2 billion in an iron ore project in the Indian state of Orissa to supply Indian and overseas customers, according to international media reports.
Rio Tinto stated that this investment will be Australia's largest investment in India so far. The annual production capacity is expected to increase to 15 million mt within a short period.
Indian mining companies are having difficulties in meeting the growing demand due to the iron ore mining ban in Karnataka state and the court order restricting the iron ore mining volume of state-owned National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) to 1 million mt per month.