Lakshmi Mittal, I am sorry to note, does not appear to be serious about his India plans. About five years ago, when huge investments in India were being announced by steel multinationals like Posco, Mittal, too, decided to make two big ones. Other than collecting the brownie points, though, he has achieved little since then. Neither of the two plants he talked about, one in Jharkhand and the other in Orissa, got anywhere. Posco, on the other hand, has been mired in a host of issues regarding land acquisition, but at least the South Korean company seems to be giving it a serious shot.
Mittal is now talking about splitting his proposed plants (“Arcelormittal splits Jharkhand plant”, October 14). True, he has new plans for Karnataka, but can he blame anyone for not taking them too seriously in the light of his progress in Orissa and Jharkhand? It is difficult to shake off the question: Is he serious about India, or is he just serious about the ore?
Nirmala Sinha, on email
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