India would seek greater clarity on reported changes in the Zimbabwean National Mineral Policy before kick-starting initiatives discussed during the visit of a high-level Indian delegation to the African nation last month.

According to an official in the Indian Steel Ministry who was part of the delegation to Zimbabwe, reports available in India indicated that the Zimbabwe government was working on a draft national mineral policy which proposed auctioning off mineral assets and making it mandatory for mine output to be sold through government-owned entities.

One of the basic premises of the India-Zimbabwe talks had been that mining- and mineral-sector collaborations between the two countries would be taken forward on a govern- ment-to-government basis, including the grant- ing of mining licences. However, if auctioning of resource allocation to investors and man-datory sales through Zimbabwe government companies were chosen as the preferred route, this would change, the official said.

However, he was quick to add that there had not been any official communication between the two countries on the alleged changes to the national mineral policy and, hence, any follow-up of initiatives proposed last month would have to wait for the official policy to be announced.

Thus, the signing of a memorandum of under- standing (MoU) between NMDC, India’s largest iron-ore miner, and a Zimbabwe government company, as mooted at the meet-ings held last month, would be subject to the provision that the new policy clarified issues of permitted equity ownership, the allo- cation of mining rights through auction or government dispensation, and marketing rights.

This meant that there would be little immedi- ate progress around the anticipated MoU.

Last month, India’s Steel Minister, Beni Prasad Verma, headed a delegation comprising steel secretary DRS Chowdhury and chairpersons of Indian government-owned minerals and metals majors, which laid the ground for bilateral collaborations in iron-ore, coal, gold and chrome ore.

Though the Indian Steel Minister was reported to have told his counterpart that “Zimbabwe has large reserves of low-grade iron-ore” and that “the Indian steel industry could be a partner in developing and gainfully using these resources”, Indian officials said that there were reports that the government of the African nation was considering treating iron-ore as a strategic mineral, restricting production levels and regulating prices.

The contours of such a policy, as was being reported now, would have to evolve and be conclusively conveyed through government-to-government channels before companies like NMDC ink agreements for projects there, the official said.