For Mittal, Essar Steel is about ending a decade-long wait to enter India

After trying for more than a decade to get a foothold in India, the steel magnate is closer than ever to realising his dream

In the last 25 years, Lakshmi Mittal has led about a dozen acquisitions to build a global steel empire that’s just a shade shy of India’s crude steel production and about 5.5 per cent of the world’s. Some of the acquisitions were famously difficult. The auction of Essar Steel, for which ArcelorMittal has been chosen as a preferred bidder, is emblematic of one such challenge.

The Reserve Bank of India-mandated debt resolution process for Essar is more than a year old now. Much of the year was spent in court rooms with the bidders — ArcelorMittal and Numetal — fighting