ArcelorMittal in talks with Jharkhand for Chiria mines

Global steel major ArcelorMittal, which has lined up Rs 1 lakh crore investments for India, said today it is in the race for a chunk of the mineral-rich Chiria mines in Jharkhand.

“Steel producers are in discussions with the Jharkhand government over Chiria mines. We are also party to such discussions,” ArcelorMittal CEO (India & China) Vijay Bhatnagar said on the sidelines of the CII Steel Summit here.

The Chiria mines, with reserves of 2 billion tonnes of high-grade iron ore, have been at the centre of an ownership battle for over four years. The mines were originally allotted to Indian Iron & Steel Company, which was merged with SAIL in 2005.

While SAIL claims the ownership of the Chiria reserves by virtue of the merger, the Jharkhand government disputes it.

The differences pertain mainly to the renewal of 4 leases — out of 10 iron ore mines — in the Chiria and Gua region. Besides ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel and JSW Steel have been eyeing the huge Chiria reserves and want rights to mine these.

Struggling to get regulatory clearances and acquire land, besides iron ore reserves for two steel plants, one each in Jharkhand and Orissa, ArcelorMittal once again said that it would move out of the original sites. “We may look for alternative sites,” Bhatnagar said.