The firm will invest 575bn rupees [$7.23bn] in the two projects that have received high-level clearance approval from the Odisha government.

China is a large consumer of iron ore.

Rio Tinto is not concerned about China's plans to centralise iron-ore purchases and has strong ties with its customers, the Australia CEO for the global miner said on Friday.

Centrally administered group aims to facilitate trade, better guarantee supply

China has established a mineral resource group with a registered capital of 20 billion yuan ($2.97 billion) in Xiongan New Area.

In April 2020, BHP agreed to a 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) sale with Chinese steel giant Baosteel and pledged to continue sales in yuan.

Australia’s minerals exports are set to reach unseen heights for a second year, as a global crunch lifts the value of the nation’s coal and natural gas.

“We don’t expect this to drag on much longer than a couple of months,” he anticipated.