Jharkhand set to get Rs 29,000 cr investment

Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda today claimed that his state was close to finalising investment worth Rs 29,000 crore in the steel and power sectors, which included the L N Mittal-promoted Mittal Steel.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the National Development Council meeting here today, Munda said, "We have already had two rounds of discussions with representatives of Mittal Steel and they are slated to visit Jharkhand again. Talks are in the final stages and the prospects (to ink the deal) look good," he said.

When asked to comment on Tata Steel's opposition to the Mittal Steel project, the chief minister said the company's needs for iron ore would be taken care of.

In addition to the Mittal group, Munda said other domestic groups like the Aditya Biral group, Essar and Jindals were also envincing interest in the state.

"We have already reached an understanding with the Aditya Birla group for a Rs 8,000 crore investment. The investment is for setting up an aluminium smelter greenfield project and for expanding their existing project in the state," the Jharkhand chief minister said.

The chief minister said his government had also signed an agreement with the Essar group for enabling the later to construct a power project at the cost of around Rs 10,000 crore in Jharkhand.

Similarly, the Jindal group has signed an agreement with the Jharkhand government to set up a five million tonne steel plant at Chandil near Jamshedpur besides another project at an estimated cost of Rs 11,000 crores.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said he too was anticipating investments to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore in the state.

"We expect an investment of Rs 10,000 crore for the second stage of the National Thermal Power Corporation project in the state and are hopeful that Rs 10,000 crore would be invested by the private sector. In addition to this we are expecting substantial investment by the Central government in the Vallarpadam container terminal," the Kerala chief minister said.