Mittal anxious about India projects, pins hope on govt

Global steel giant ArcelorMittal today said it is anxious to start work on its big-ticket India projects but exuded confidence that the government is doing its best to ensure its Rs 1.30 lakh crore projects take off.

"It is very important to us and we are as anxious as anyone to make substantial progress in India," ArcelorMittal Chief LN Mittal said today after the world's largest steel producer declared its first quarter results.

Mittal said though there were some progress in its Karnataka and Jharkhand projects but these were not enough to begin the construction of steel mills.

"There is some progress in Karnataka we have started seeing some progress in Jharkhand. So, there are some progresses but not enough yet to start construction on any particular date when they will begin the project work," ArcelorMittal CEO said.

The company had entered into a pact with Jharkhand government way back in 2005 to set up a 12 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel plant. It had unveiled similar plans for Orissa in 2006.

However, none of the projects could take off due to regulatory and other hurdles like problems in land acquisition, raw material security etc. It had to shift the site of the proposed project at Bokaro in Jharkhand from Khunti-Gumla, faced with land acquisition problems.

Faced with delays, it entered into a pact with Karnataka government for Rs 30,000 crore plant with a capacity of 6 MTPA in June 2010.

However, the company is still in need of regulatory approvals to take off projects. "We are still in need of so many approvals," Mittal said.

Asked whether he intended to take up the matter with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said that the government was aware of the entire issue and he was hopeful that it (government) was making efforts to ensure progress.

"The government is clearly aware of our need and our anxiety to start all these projects. There is enough pressure from various authorities. Everyone is fully aware about our projects. I am sure that the government is doing its best," he said.

Faced with inordinate delays in his India plans, Mittal in February last year had slammed administrators in India for not being equipped to handle big ticket investments.

Meanwhile, to mark its first operational presence, ArcelorMittal entered into a partnership with domestic firm Uttam Galva.

However, when asked whether the company was scouting for more such partnerships to grow its business locally, he declined to comment.