The agreement was signed by  SAIL Chairman Sushil Kumar Roongta and Tata Steel Managing Director  Muthuraman,  in the presence of other senior executives from both companies. “This is a significant step for both the companies which need coking coal for their current and future production needs,” Mr Muthuraman said here.

“It (the cooperation) may extend to iron ore mining and steel making later. But as of now, we are beginning with coal,” Mr Muthuraman said.

Making it clear that he was willing to extend cooperation with SAIL to other areas, he said that “Sometimes, I think these two companies should have started many other things because the cultural compatibility between both is high. I wonder why we did not do things together earlier.”

Endorsing Mr Muthuraman’s assertions, Mr Roongta said there was nothing wrong if both companies explored mutual opportunities in coal mining as Tata Steel had requisite expertise for mining coal.

Mr Muthuraman said four medium coking coal blocks in Jharkhand having reserves of around 600 million tonnes were being evaluated by a working group comprising officials from SAIL and Tata Steel. “On allotment of blocks, the JV company will develop and carry out mining for captive use of both companies with investment of about Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 crore,” he said.