LN Mittal group to submit Jharkhand unit plan in July

Global major Mittal Steel is likely to send its proposal about investment in mining and steel sectors in Jharkhand in July, state mines minister Madhu Kora said.

The steel MNC might set up a five million tonne steel plant in the first phase, Kora said.

"The state government's discussions with Mittal steel's chief financial officer Sudhir Maheswari and mining director M P Singh gave indication about the steel major's keenness to invest in mineral-rich Jharkhand," he said.

"There is a possibility of Mittal steel setting up a five million tonne steel plant in the first phase," the minister, who on Friday took Maheswari and Singh on a recee of Chiria mines and those in Gua in west Singhbhum district, said.

Accompanied by the top brass in the bureaucracy, chief minister Arjun Munda and Kora held talks with Maheswari and Singh who, on behalf of Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, extended invitation to Munda to visit his place in London.

Stating that the Mittals intended to launch an integrated greenfield steel plant, the minister said the government would be in a position to tell about it in detail only after getting the investment proposals, expected in the first week of July.

Mittal officials were satisfied with the location of mines with three major rivers Koel, Karo and Koena flowing nearby, Kora claimed. "We have also given them our transport plans which would strengthen and expand the existing facilities near the mines,"

The state government, Kora said, had discussed with the Mittal officials about the opportunities of direct employment supposed to be generated if the proposed plant came up.

Kora said government has been serious with creating an investor-friendly atmosphere in the young state.

He said the government was impressed with the group's stress on issues like productivity, environment and safety.

The chief minister has set up a coordination committee, headed by himself, to coordinate with mittal group whose strategy is to further build its global position in steel making and mining and remain a low-cost big-margin producer.

Its annual production capacity of iron ore is 18.1 million mt which supplies nearly 40 percent of the company's annual requirement of 45.8 million mt. It has its own iron ore in Algeria, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Mexico, south Africa and the US.

If Jharkhand government gets the Mittal group to sign an MoU, it would be the second major success for the state in the year in the investment sector.

On March 30, the state government and Hindalco industries limited, a flagship of the Aditya Birla group, signed an MoU to set up a Rs 7,800 crore aluminium smelter project along with a 600 mw captive power plant at Tumbagarha village in Latehar district.

The state government has already signed mous worth over Rs 80,000 crore with different industries, Kora said.

Mittal steel, which is the largest steel producer in the world, is operating in 14 countries across four continents having 160,000 employees.