Source: Bloomberg                          Date: 24 February, 2011

Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), the nation’s second-largest producer, is seeking to purchase at least two coking coal mines in Mongolia, which holds the world’s largest deposit of the steelmaking raw material.  SAIL is in talks to build a USD3-billion factory in the land-locked country, and aims to buy one mine itself and another through a venture with other state-run metal and energy companies, Chairman C.S. Verma told reporters in New Delhi. The company has asked the Indian government for assistance in buying the mines, he said, without giving details about the size, location or time of investment.