Essar Africa Holdings, the African subsidiary of Essar group, plans to invest $275 million on developing a 10-million tonne (mn t) port in Mozambique. The project is currently on the drawing board, reports indicate.

At a time when the group is looking at growth opportunities and overseas projects, the proposed port may facilitate exports from Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO), a Zimbabwe-based company it acquired in 2010.

Essar group is learnt to have an 80 per cent stake in the minerals joint venture with the government of Zimbabwe and it is allowed to export excess iron ore after feeding ZISCO and the local market.

Essar Steel spent $750 million for a 56 per cent stake in the company. The group had plans to bring back iron ore from the Zimbabwe company to India.

The proposed port would add to its many businesses in the continent. Essar Energy holds 50 per cent interest in the Kenya Petroleum Refinery at Mombassa. It also has telecom operations in Kenya under the brand name Yu, with over 3 million subscribers.

However, this port will not cater exclusively to ZISCO and Essar. “Mozambique has a lot of coal resources, and that will also be another major source of cargo,” said the official.

Last year, the company had said it planned to start steel production at ZISCO in 12-15 months time, from the date of getting all the necessary approvals.