Vietnam to release Tata Steel license deal in 3 months

Tata Steel says that it is expecting investment licence from Vietnam government in the next three months, as a result of its joint venture agreement with Vietnam's largest steel company, Vietnam Steel Corp. (VSC), together with Vietnam Cement Industries Corp. (Vicem) for a 4.6 million tonnes per annum of integrated steel. Discussions between the Vietnamese government and officials of Ha Tinh province, where the steel complex is to be set up in the Vung Ang Economic Zone, are on, Tata Steel managing director (India and South East Asia) HM Nerurkar said. The integrated steel plant is to come up in three phases, spread over a 10- year period, at a total estimated cost of $5 billion. While Tata Steel will have a 65% stake in the steel project, VSC and Vicem would have 30% and 5% stakes, respectively, in the project. Tata Steel would also have a 30% stake in the Thach Khe Iron Ore Joint Stock Company, which would undertake mining operations in the Thach Khe iron ore mines.Flora Lee Mei Yun