Fox Mandal & Co. has been appointed as the legal advisor to a seven-member consortium of leading Indian state-run and private companies led by Steel Authority of India, which has been awarded mining rights for the Hajigak iron ore deposit in Afghanistan. 

Hajigak is a series of mountain ridges about 100 km west of Kabul. It contains 1.8 billion metric tonnes of ore, making it Afghanistan’s largest iron ore.  Three out of four blocks in this ore have been granted to seven Indian companies. The Indian consortium, called AFISCO for Afghan Iron and Steel Consortium, includes three state-run firms - SAIL, National Mineral Development Corporation and RashtriyaIspat Nigam. It also includes four private steelmakers - JSW Steel, JSW Ispat, Jindal Steel and Power and Monnet Ispat.

Fox Mandal’s Delhi Partners Sumes Dewan and Rajesh Sehgal will lead the team.  Rajesh Sehgal speaking to Bar & Bench, said, “It’s always proud to be associated with a prestigious project like Hajigak and working with consortium consisting of leading PSUs and public sector companies looking for aggressive acquisition of natural resources globally.  Moreover, this project is of significant importance to lay the new foundation of India-Afghanistan strategic relationship.”

The firm will mainly be involved in assisting the consortium in negotiations and drafting of the necessary agreements with the Afghanistan Government for the project. The investment in Afghanistan for the Hajigak Project also includes the building of the nation’s first Steel Plant, an 800MW Power Plant and facilities for Ore Extraction and Processing. The Indian group’s bid also includes an investment of $1 billion in rail/road and for building ancillary infrastructure facilities, including a rail line from Hajigak to the Iranian port of Chabahar.  The first round of negotiations with the Afghanistan Ministry of Mines has recently been concluded in Kabul. 

The other law firms that participated in the bid to act on behalf of the consortium include AZB & Partners, Khaitan& Co. and Amarchand & Mangaldas.

Image Courtesy: Business Standard

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