Mittal likely to sign Orissa pact in Nov

Mittal Steel Jharkhand Pvt, the subsidiary of Mittal-Arcelor is likely to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Orissa government to set up a steel plant in the state within two months.

"The MoU would be through once Mittal Steel acquires the 8,000 acres of land it has sought from the Orissa government," Orissa minister for steel and mines Padmanabha Behara said on the sidelines of a minerals and metals conference here on Monday.

However, Mittal Steel Jharkhand chief executive Sanak Mishra refused to confirm a date for the actual signing of the MoU saying that the background work was still going on.

Indicating that Mittal Steel may not use the Bhambra port as was earlier reporter, Behera said the company is likely to use the upcoming port in Gopalpur being built by the Orissa government.

Arcelor-Mittal Steel board president LN Mittal had announced a 12 million tonne project in Orissa after visiting Bhubaneshwar and meeting Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik in July this year with an investment of between Rs 40,000-45000 crore. He had announced similar plans for Jharkhand in October last year.

The Orissa government had showed seven sites to the company to set up its prospective plant. Sources said that of these, four were shortlisted and aerial surveys have already been carried out.

The possible sites are Khallikot in Ganjam, Basudevpur in Bhadrak, Balgopalpur in Balasore and Patna in Keonjhar.

An expert team from the company was presently engaged in ground surveys in Orissa and would submit its findings in eight weeks.

The steelmaker has already entrusted the Ranchi-based consultant Mecon the job of selecting the site for the project.