ArcelorMittal to invest Rs 2,000 cr in Odisha, says Lakshmi Mittal

ArcelorMittal’s chairman & chief executive officer Lakshmi Mittal has pledged Rs 2,000 crore investment in Odisha. Though the chief of the world’s largest steel company didn’t spell out the specifics, the investments are most likely to be on the iron ore mines won in the state.

“We already have Rs 2,000 crore investment plan in Odisha which is on. We got one mine here at auctions which was organised very well. The auctions process you have introduced is one of the best. You have transparency in governance and that is the most important thing for us as an international company”, Mittal said in a video conference with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Mittal said, the company would work on the two iron ore mines- Sagasahi and Thakurani in Odisha. The steel baron admitted that even though they could not operate at peak capacity at the Hazira plant during the Covid-19 crisis, they could steel produce in Odisha and export pellets.

The chief minister assured Mittal of full support from his office to ensure that the projects make headway.

ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India), a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Japan’s Nippon Steel, acquired the debt laden Essar Steel in an insolvency resolution process overseen by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). It was Essar Steel that bagged the first ever iron ore mine auctioned in the country in Odisha- Ghoraburhani-Sagasahi mine endowed with 99.59 million tonne deposits. The mine containing high grade iron ore reserves is meant to feed the integrated steel plant at Hazira. The Odisha government had issued the Letter of Intent (LoI) for developing the iron ore mine. As per initial plan, 7.16 million tonne was to be extracted each year. The block is at G2 exploration stage and located in Koira sector in Sundargarh district.

The mineral concession area is spread over 139.16 hectares (ha) including 20.88 ha forest land, 110.69 ha government land and the balance 7.58 ha private land. Survey of the mineral block has been done by the Geological Survey of India (GSI).

Later, AM/NS India had successfully bid for Thakurani iron mine at e-auctions of lapsing merchant mine blocks in Odisha, quoting a premium in upwards of 100 per cent. The Thakurani mine straddling a lease area of 228.04 ha, possesses 180 million tonne of iron ore. It has permits to mine 5.5 million tonne per annum.

Following the Essar Steel acquisition, AM/NS owns six million tonne pellet complex at Paradip backed by 12 million tonne beneficiation plant at Dabuna (Keonjhar), both facilities in Odisha connected by a slurry pipeline.