Rules out possibility of pull-out by the steel major
The Orissa government has reiterated that ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker, is committed to its Rs 40,000 crore steel plant and ruled out the possibility of the steel behemoth pulling out of its 12 million tonne per annum (mtpa) Orissa project.
“ArcelorMittal had sent a written document to the state steel and mines department 2-3 months back, stating that it is fully committed to its Orissa project. Moreover, Sanak Mishra, chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal India, had personally met me last month and stated with conviction that the company is not pulling out of its mega steel project in Orissa”, state steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty said.
ArcelorMittal's mega steel project has been in the quagmire of uncertainty ever since the signing of the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) in December 2006.
The company is yet to submit its detailed project report (DPR) and had made negligible progress at the ground level after signing the MoU.
With ArcelorMittal chairman Lakshmi Mittal expressing discontent over the sluggish pace of the Orissa project and the company giving priority to its Karnataka steel project, there were speculations that the steel maker may scrap its Orissa plan.
Mittal had claimed that the company's Karnataka project had made much faster progress than the projects in Orissa and Jharkhand.
The steel major had entered into an MoU with the Karanataka government to set up a six mtpa steel project in the iron ore rich Bellary district at an investment of Rs 30,000 crore.
The company's Karnataka project was on the fast track with 4,000 acres of land already allotted by the state government.
When contacted, Manoj Ahuja, the state steel and mines secretary said, “It is true that ArcelorMittal is yet to submit the DPR on its mega steel project in Orissa. However, the company has said it is committed to the project and it would not be correct to assume that they are going to pull out”.
Ahuja had recently reviewed the progress of all the steel players who had inked MoUs with the state government.
ArcleorMittal's steel plant in Orissa was to come up at Patana tehsil in Keonjhar district.
The company required around 7000 acres of land and as many as 15 villages were to be affected by it.
Local agitation to the land acquisition process had put the brakes on the project's progress.
