BHP Billiton bets on India's iron ore, bauxite

The world's largest miner says volume growth in India is higher than in China. The Anglo-Australian company sees potential opportunities in iron ore and bauxite in India BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, plans to step up its operation in India where it says growth is higher than in China due to rising demand for materials like coal and nickel. "We are pushing into India extremely aggressively on selling product there," Chief Executive-elect Marius Kloppers told reporters in Melbourne at a post-results briefing on Friday. There are untapped opportunities for miners in iron ore and bauxite projects in India, he said. Volume growth in India today is higher than what it earned six years ago from China, which now accounts for a fifth of revenue for BHP, Kloppers said. China accounted for 20.4% of BHP's sales in the second half ended June, whereas India only contributed to 4.4%. BHP's sales to China jumped 47% in the six months ended June to US$5.29bn from a year ago. Its sales to India surged 56% in the same period from a year ago to US$1.14bn. China, the world's largest consumer of industrial resources, will need more metals and iron ore, Kloppers said. India will need energy commodities such as coal, as well as metals, he said. "This is a larger portion of the globe industrialising than before," he said. Kloppers, who takes over the top job from Charles 'Chip' Goodyear in October, pointed to potential opportunities in iron ore and bauxite in India if the Government relaxed its mining regulations. "The access to resources or types of businesses we want to run in, areas where they are very well endowed – bauxite and iron ore – those opportunities have not yet materialised for companies like us," he said.