Newsmaker: Naveen Jindal

A corporate el libertador in the Andes?

The year 2006 has so far proved to be quite forgetable for L N Mittal, and while the steel baron's takeover bid for Arcelor has hogged all the headlines, another Indian "" Naveen Jindal, aged just 36 "" has pulled off his own coup in Bolivia, beating the globe's biggest steel player and emerging as the sole bidder for the development of the El Mutun iron ore mines in South America's poorest country.

Bolivia, though, is not an easy place for Western firms to do business, at least not since it began showing Bolivarian instincts.

The country's Socialist President Evo Morales only recently ordered troops to take over oil and gas sites run by foreign companies and then issued a diktat for them to renegotiate their contracts with the state-owned oil company YPFB.

It takes more than just ordinary gall to operate in such a place, and Mittal Steel and Jindal Steel were the only players left from among the five bidders for the Bolivian mines, believed to hold 40 billion tonnes of iron ore and 10 billion tonnes of magnesium.

The former was, however, disqualified by the Bolivian government late last week for not meeting the required conditions.

That's what left the Delhi-headquartered Jindal Steel as the only bidder.

Jindal may not quite be the corporate el libertador (liberator) Bolivia so desires, but its role is expected to be substantial. It is expected to invest $2.3-2.5 billion over the next eight years, and the project could create 10,000 direct and 30,000 indirect jobs in Bolivia, a country desperate for investment.

Naveen Jindal, who is also a Member of Parliament from the Kurukshetra constituency, seems to have thought the investment through.

He is known as a person who only takes informed and calculated risks, and it's fair to assume that he is getting into this business with his eyes wide open.

Jindal, as executive vice-chairman and managing director of Jindal Steel and Power, is credited with having turned around the fortunes of the company, transforming it from a moderate performer to a big player.

Being the youngest son of the late O P Jindal, a renowned steel industrialist in his time, perhaps gives him a sound understanding of steel.

As for leadership, he won the "Student Leader of the Year Award" at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he did his MBA.

Jindal is also widely associated with the fight for the Indian citizen's right to freely fly the national flag. In January 2004, the Supreme Court upheld the right to fly the tricolour with dignity and respect as a fundamental right.

Among other causes, he took up the initiative to ensure that the smoking ban was implemented in Parliament. His plea for enforcement of the same came into effect in July 2004.

Jindal is also an avid sportsperson and a national record holder in skeet shooting. He led the Indian team to the silver medal at the SAF Games in Pakistan in 2004.

Polo is another sport at which he excels, having captained his team to win the Indian Polo Association Championship in 2003 and 2004.