Mittal steels itself over Chiria mines

Company says no project in Jharkhand without Chiria.

Mittal Steel India, a subsidiary of Mittal Steel, the world's largest steel company, has ruled out setting up a steel plant in Jharkhand without the allotment of the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL)-owned Chiria mines, the largest iron ore belt in Asia.

Speaking to Business Standard, Sanak Mishra, chief executive officer of Mittal Steel India, said there was no question of setting up the steel plant without Chiria.

In a bid to maintain its control over Chiria, SAIL has offered to set up a greenfield facility of around five-million-tonne capacity in Jharkhand.

Incidentally, Mittal Steel was conspicuous by its absence at the trade fair that began in Ranchi on November 15. Many steel companies including Tata Steel, Jindal, and Essar, which signed MoUs with the state government, attended the fair.

A Jharkhand official said Mittal Steel was invited to showcase its plans for the state at the trade fair. "It's unfortunate that it did not participate. We did send the invite on time," he said.

Mittal Steel had selected the plant site in Jharkhand and was only awaiting clarity on the mines issue. However, Mishra refused to divulge the name of the site, saying it would unnecessarily disappoint people in the area if the company decided to pull out of the project.

Mittal's proposed 12-million-tonne steel plant requires 600 million tonne of iron ore over a 30-year period. The project is proposed to be set up in two phases with a total investment of Rs 40,000 crore.

A MoU with the Jharkhand government was signed last October. Mittal Steel India is holding parleys with the Jharkhand government and the Centre on the issue of allotment of Chiria mines.

Responding to recent reports of the Jharkhand government declaring that SAIL would be given priority for Chiria, Mishra said that did not negate Mittal's claim, given that Chiria had deposits to feed others besides SAIL. Estimates indicate that Chiria has deposits in excess of 2 billion tonne, though the mines have not been fully explored.

The company is hoping that a clearer picture would emerge around January and it would then take a call on the project. "No one waits for anyone," responded Mishra to a query on how long the company was willing to wait for the mines issue to be resolved.

He also pointed out that Mittal Steel was not the only company eyeing Chiria, mentioning at least two other private companies that were in the fray.

The private companies were eyeing two of Chiria leases, which were under litigation in the Jharkhand High Court, as they had been cancelled by the state government. However, sources said, efforts were on to settle the issue amicably.

Meanwhile, Mittal Steel is going ahead with its Orissa project.