India?s biggest miner National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and the Anglo-Australian biggie Rio Tinto has formally decided to snap ties. The move comes at a time when the Centre is trying to streamline mining laws and facilitate both domestic and foreign investments in the mineral sector.
NMDC and Rio Tinto had inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on August 18, 2008, to co-operate in exploring potential investment opportunities in India and abroad, primarily for iron ore, through a joint venture company. The Indian miner was anxious that its venture with Rio Tinto had not yielded any concrete results. The MoU expired on August 17 this year.
NMDC CMD Rana Som told The Indian Express, ?Three years have elapsed since we signed the MoU and nothing concrete has happened so far. We expected Rio to facilitate our entry into their home turf in Australia and elsewhere which remained elusive. So, there was no imminent prospects in renewing the MoU.?
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