The Bolivian government Thursday awarded the Indian company Jindal Steel and Power LTD the exploitation rights for a massive iron mine that sits near the Brazilian border.

The company will invest $2.3 billion in the production of iron and steel plates, said Carlos Villegas, Bolivia's planning and development minister.

"This is a historic step that marks the transition of Bolivia from a country that exports raw material to one that's entering the iron and steel industry," Villegas said.

In 60 days the contract details will be finalized so the company can begin operations, he added.

Jindal Steel and Power was the only company left in the bidding process after the government disqualified a bid by Netherlands-based Mittal Steel Co.

The Mutun mine, located near the Brazilian border, is estimated to hold 40 billion metric tons of iron ore. The deal could earn the poor Andean nation at least $250 million in exports annually, could produce up to 5 million tons of steel annually and employ more than 1,800 people, according to government officials.

The bidding process moved forward after decades of delays, the most recent of which came last December when the outgoing government decided to leave the final bidding decision to the new leftist President Evo Morales.

The Morales administration required the company awarded the contract to not only extract the iron but to industrialize its production into steel using Bolivia's plentiful natural gas.

The move comes a month after Morales nationalized Bolivia's natural gas industry and its handling of the Mutun mine was seen by many as a test of how the government would mining investments.

In April, the government barred Brazilian iron and steel company EBX from the bidding process and forced it to close operations in Bolivia saying it had broken a Bolivian law that bars foreigners from owning land within 50 kilometers of an international border.

While Jindal has been awarded the right to develop the mine for the next 40 years, the state owns the Mutun property and will hold a 48 percent stake in the venture.