The Bolivian government and Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) are reportedly moving closer to sorting out their dispute even as both accuse each other of cheating. Sources said the Bolivian government wants JSPL to hold talks at the Indian embassy in Peru. How the Jindals skipped out of Bolivia, however, remains a mystery. There is no evidence of their having taken the airport route out, the Bolivian government claims.
Bolivian mines minister Mario Virreira has invited JSPL for reconciliatory talks on the matter, but the company wants the meeting to happen at a neutral place or through video-conferencing due to the prevailing situation in the country. JSPL has named Brazil, Chile and Spain as possible venue for talks.
“Why can’t the Jindals organise a meeting when they have the Indian ambassador in Peru with them in the delegation? Then, they won’t need to be worried about getting arrested in Bolivia,” asked a source close to the Bolivian government. JSPL vice-chairman and head (global hunt) Vikrant Gujral reportedly left the country in May and other senior officers left Bolivia overland through Puerto Su?rez (Santa Cruz) to Brazil.
Meanwhile, preliminary audit reports released by the directorate of legal affairs, ministry of mines, Bolivia, show that JSPL’s investments have not even touched 3% of the commitment made under the contract. The Jindals seem to have invested merely $12-15 million, while under the contract, they were supposed to invest $600 million in the first two years. The project’s total cost was pegged at $2.1 billion and was considered as the single largest foreign direct investment in the Latin American country. The company also seems to have defaulted on rentals due to suppliers of machines, including rented crusher (stone crusher), trucks and cranes as well as furniture and stationery.
As per the contract, JSPL was required to invest $5 million towards buying heavy machinery for the operations. Three local companies have reportedly complained to the Bolivian government over the debt contracts with the Jindals. JSPL owes these companies anything between $2,00,000 and $6,50,000 for rental of these machines, according to the statement.
Some of these heavy duty machinery could have been leased from Brazilian companies because Puerto Suarez borders that country. To prevent these equipment to be transferred back to Brazil, the Bolivian local government has asked the police to guard the area. In a statement issued to the media in Bolivia, the Jindals have strongly refuted the allegations. JSPL?s contract, signed in 2007, included a 40-year mining rights of the El-Mutun mines.