Centre to hear concerns of ArcelorMittal, Posco, Orissa

A meeting of officials of the Orissa government, ArcelorMittal and Posco will be held this week to clear the hurdles delaying investment of around Rs one lakh crore in the state by the two global steel giants.

"A meeting will be held in Orissa this week where we will discuss issues hurting the proposed (about Rs 1 lakh crore) investment of ArcelorMittal and Posco and look for possible solutions," Steel Secretary P K Rastogi told PTI.

The meeting, to be held in Bhubaneshwar, would be chaired by Orissa Chief Secretary T K Mishra. There will be a Joint- Secretary level representation from the Steel Ministry besides top officials from the concerned districts.

The steel ministry has already held two separate meetings with the two global companies and have listed their concerns.

"We had already held meetings with the representatives of the two companies recently and discussed their concerns, problems which they are facing," he said.

Earlier this month, ArcelorMittal had threatened to abandon its over Rs 80,000-crore steel projects in Orissa and Jharkhand mainly due to problems faced in acquiring land and said that it will look for new sites within the country.

It also awaits iron ore mining leases to feed the proposed steel project in Keonjhar, Orissa.

Faced with similar problems, South Korean steel giant Posco had said that they will slightly alter the site of its proposed Rs 51,000 crore steel plant near Paradeep.

Posco is also awaiting mining leases in the state for the proposed venture which had also received a approval from the Supreme Court green bench last year. It requires about 4,000 acres of land for the 12 million tonnes per annum steel project while ArcelorMittal requires 3,410 acres.

Besides, land acquisition and delay in getting mining leases, the steel projects have been hit by "regulatory hurdles".

ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO L N Mittal had expressed disappointment with the regulatory hurdles in setting up the plants but maintained that the company will not give up the India project. The company now looks to start production not before 2014 from the its plants than earlier target of 2012.

Shortly after the merger of Mittal Steel with Arcelor in 2006, Mittal had announced plans for a 12-MTPA steel plant in Orissa and thereafter an identical project in Jharkhand.

 Posco had signed an MoU with the Orissa government in 2005 and is facing stiff opposition from the locals for the project. It wanted to start construction for the plant in April last year but now hopes to commence it early next year.