ArcelorMittal zeroes in on Bellary for 6-mt steel unit

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker, has finalised Kuditini near Bellary in east-central Karnataka to set up its Rs 30,000-crore, 6-million tonne per annum steel plant. A team of company officials visited the site yesterday and indicated they needed 4,900 acres, a senior state government official said.

“The company had earlier shortlisted a place in Bijapur district to set up their plant. But, after visiting the state for the third time, a team of officials from the company today informed us that they want to locate their plant in Kuditini. After discussing the matter with Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, we have agreed to provide them land at this place,” V P Baligar, principal secretary, industries and commerce, said today.

A team from Posco, the South Korean steel giant, has also visited Bellary district to look for a project location but haven’t decided.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here, he said the government would provide water for the steel plant from the Tungabhadra dam in Bellary district and the Alamatti dam in Bijapur district. The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board had already issued a preliminary notification to acquire the land at Kuditini, he said.

The state government has identified 300 hectares of iron ore mines for the company in Bellary district, he said.

The company will sign a memorandum of understanding with the state government during the latter’s global investors’ meet on June 3. The government has invited L N Mittal, chairman of ArcelorMittal, to be the chief guest at the meet, said Baligar.

The High-Level Clearance Committee headed by the chief minister had cleared ArcelorMittal’s proposal in January. In November last year, a high-level team led by their group board member, Sudhir Maheshwari, and executive vice president, Vijay Kumar Bhatnagar, had discussions with the chief minister, industries minister and officials to discuss the project. The team had visited three locations.

Baligar said investment in setting up ancillary units by small and medium enterprises around the new steel plant was likely to be Rs 25,000 crore.

He said a team of officials from Hero Honda had visited three places in the Hubli-Dharwad area in north-west Karnataka to locate their first manufacturing plant in South India. Last week, the team visited Gamanagatti near Hubli airport, Mummigatti and Narendra near Dharwad. The company requires about 100 acres for their plant, 200 acres for an ancillary park and another 60 acres for their township, he said.

Wipro Technologies has applied for allotment of 50 acres near Bangalore International Airport to establish a software technology park. The state government has given an in-principle approval to their proposal, said Baligar.