Leaving India was my biggest challenge: L N Mittal

It's not the economic slowdown but leaving India was the biggest challenge for India-born billionaire Lakshmi Niwas Mittal.

"The biggest crisis or challenge I faced I believe is when I left India. I did not have any exposure to the global market global situation and I landed up in a country (Indonesia) I never knew about. That was the biggest challenge," Mittal, chairman and CEO of steel behemoth ArcelorMittal, told private broadcaster CNBC TV18.

However, admitting that ArcelorMittal did not anticipate a crisis of this magnitude, Mittal maintained that the company acknowledged the slowdown and was the first one to resort to cost-cutting measures.

Mittal, 58, born in Sadulpur in Rajasthan, parted ways with his father and brother and took over the international affairs of the family business and left for Indonesia a little more than three decades ago. Mittal had founded the Mittal Steel Company in 1976.

The London-based industrialist, who has received many international and national honours including the Padma Vibhushan in January last year, guided his company's strategic development, culminating in the more than $32 billion merger deal with Arcelor, in 2006.