Raj Gupta Group Plans $600m Investment In Ore Mining, Steel Production- Minister

African natural Resources and Mines Limited is investing $600m in an integrated iron ore mining, processing and steel production project in Kagarko local government area of Kaduna State.
Announcing the planned investment, Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who hosted the company’s management, led by Indian businessman, Raj Gupta, in her Abuja office on Friday evening, said it is part of the government’s diversification from oil.
In a series of tweet via her personal twitter handle (@ZShamsuna), Mrs. Ahmed said this investment in the mining sector, about the first in more than two decades, will have a capacity of 5.4m tonnes per annum, creating 3,500 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs.
Continuing, she noted that “the integrated steel manufacturing project has its focal point in mining iron ore, beneficiating, pelletizing and transforming into Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) which is the primary raw material in steel manufacturing.”
In addition, the project is expected to generate about 36 megawatts of electricity “from the waste heat which will increase power supply to Kagarko LG to help develop other industries and urbanize the local area. The surplus will also be added to the national grid.”
The project will also “drive industrial and community development, generate more power, create employment for locals, substitute imports, crude steel production, royalties and reposition the mining sector.”
Raj Gupta, who was educated in India and UK, started working in Nigeria in the late 1980s when he moved to Lagos, after beginning his career with the family business in India. He focused initially on the trading and strategically expanded, introducing new products to diversify the franchise in an uncertain Nigerian market.
In the early 2000s, Raj began manufacturing in Nigeria, taking advantage of positive incentives granted by the Federal Government, which catapulted his African Industries into a major manufacturer of steel and other products using local resources.
The group expanded into chemicals, power and most recently glass, besides driving the export initiatives of the group into West Africa.

Caption: Mrs. Ahmed (middle) pose for a photograph with the Raj Gupta (right) and a member of the team.

Sign In

Register

Reset Password

Please enter your username or email address, you will receive a link to create a new password via email.