ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, today signed an agreement with the Karnataka government to set up a six million-tonne per annum steel plant in iron ore-rich Bellary district, about 300 km from here, for Rs 30,000 crore.
Lakshmi N Mittal, the chairman and chief executive of ArcelorMittal, said the company’s proposed project in Karnataka would get priority over two other similar projects in Jharkhand and Orissa, held up due to land and environmental issues.
“Going by our progress in Karnataka ahead of others, our steel project in the state will get the first priority,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Global Investors’ Meet (GIM), which kicked off here today .
Since the company’s other two steel projects have been hanging fire, Mittal said priorities would change depending on approvals and market development.
“In Karnataka, we have experienced positive support from the state government. In just about five months, we have reached the stage of signing an MoU and the land acquisition is in progress. This is the fastest clearance we have seen anywhere in the country.”
Though the state government has allocated water for the proposed steel plant and a captive power plant at the site, the company is yet to get coal linkages.
“We are at the preliminary stage of progress. The real progress has to be made now. We are also working with Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd for the power project in a joint venture,” Mittal pointed out.
On securing mining lease, Mittal admitted that its location was a problem and the company had not identified the mining site in the state.
“The mining location is a problem. We are in the process of working with the state government to get the mining lease. That is one of the processes, which have been initiated, but we are confident that the state government will make a recommendation in this regard to the Centre.”
The project would be implemented in 36 months from the date of laying the foundation, he added.
Meanwhile, the state signed memoranda of understandings (MoUs) worth Rs 3 lakh crore on the inaugural day of GIM. Companies,present at the two-day event included JSW Steel, Brahmani Industries, Rajashree Cements, Hazira Steel, Infosys, Bharat Forge, Surya Vijayanagar Steel and Power, Surya Vijayanagar Cement, Shree Renuka Infra Projects, Bhushan Steel, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Shell Technology India, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited, Gas Authority of India Limited and Wipro. South Korean steel giant Posco returned to sign an MoU.
The meet was inaugurated by leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley.
Other leading industrialists present included Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumaramangalam Birla, Essar Group Chairman Shashi Ruia, UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya, former Confederation of Indian Industry President Venu Srinivasan, Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji and Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge.
