Tata Steel Ltd, India's largest private sector steel maker, said on Monday it would invest $1.1-1.2 billion in building steel plants in Iran. The investment, part of Tata Steel's drive to expand abroad, came on the same day Iran agreed a major deal to export liquefied natural gas to India, in a sign of growing ties between the two countries.
"We plan to take advantage of the low cost gas and ... availability of iron ore there," Tata Steel a Managing Director B. Muthuraman told a news conference in India's financial capital.
"We want to be present in Iran because it is a fast-growing country and demand for steel is several times more than India."
Tata Steel will own 49 percent stakes in two joint ventures with Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organisation (IMIDRO), and fully own a billets plant that will produce 3 million tonnes per year, Muthuraman said.