After long drawn-out negotiations, Bolivia has signed a deal worth around US$2.1 billion with India-based Jindal Power & Steel Ltd for the exploitation and processing of a vast iron deposit near the Brazilian border. According to the deal in question, Jindal will be able to mine 50 percent of the Mutun deposit containing about 40 billion tons of iron ore. Jindal will process the mined ore into steel at a plant with an annual capacity of 1.5 million mt which it plans to build.
Including an iron mine and a steel plant, the deal is expected to be the greatest foreign investment made in a single project in Bolivia and to bring annual earnings of $200 million to the government.
"In scope of the deal, Jindal is to make a $2.1 billion investment during the first eight years of the 40-year deal in addition to creating job opportunities for 4,000 people", President of Bolivia Evo Morales said.