Arcelor to buy more mines in India

Arcelor-Mittal is open to securing independent mines other than Chiria, which has seen many claimants, including state-run steel giant SAIL and other steel makers.

"All I am saying is that we are open to either acquiring a different mine which fulfils our iron ore requirement or getting a direct allocation in Chiria or working it out on a joint basis. I mean we are open, we are not a closed company," Aditya Mittal, Arcelor-Mittal's chief financial officer, said.

Arcelor-Mittal accounts for at least 10 per cent of the global steel production and has pledged to build two new 12 million tonne integrated plants - one each in Jharkhand and Orissa - at a total cost of Rs 80,000 crore.

"We will do what we believe will ensure the viability of our project and that is important. The situation is open," he said.

Stating that the company's focus was to acquire iron ore capability both in Jharkhand and Orissa projects, he said: "As far as the organisation is concerned, we are open to good ideas. It is not that it has to be only one way. Anything that allows viability to our project is acceptable to us."

When asked whether Arcelor-Mittal would be ready for sourcing iron ore from the domestic market pending the settlement of the Chiria issue, Mittal said: "Our focus is we want to be vertically integrated. It has to be a low-cost situation."

Unfazed by the delay in setting up the projects in the wake of uncertainty in allocation of captive mines, he made it clear that his company was determined to execute them.

"Fundamentally, I would say two things. First thing is that people for some reason have this belief that we are not committed or are not serious enough. We are serious that these projects will happen and there are no doubts about it. We are making good progress," Mittal pointed out.

"We have capitalised the company and we are in the process of land acquisition," he said.