 "ArcelorMittal scraps steel plant in Karnataka, asks for land usage change: Siddaramaiah")
Global steel major, ArcelorMittal has scrapped the proposed Rs 30,000 crore steel factory in Karnataka due to global steel crisis and asked the state to change the usage policy for 1,800 acres of land it had acquired for the plant in Bellary, the government said on Monday.
“ArcelorMittal has backed out,” said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ahead of Invest Karnataka, the state’s investor meet that begins in February 3.
The steel giant had signed a pact during the global investors meet in 2010 to set up a six million tonnes per annum (TPA) steel plant in Bellary in Northern Karnataka, which has rich iron ore resources. The plant would have entailed investments of Rs 30,000 crore.
State industries minister R V Deshpande attributed the change in ArcelorMittal's stance to the global steel crash caused by a glut in production in China, the world's largest consumer of steel.
“They have asked.. please help us change the land usage for other purposes,” said Deshpande. He said that the state had rejected another proposal for an investment in a steel plant in Bellary due to a global crisis in steel prices.
According to Deshpande, the Karnataka government has cleared investment proposals of Rs 1.3 lakh crore in the last two years, many of which are in different stages of implementation.
The projects include GSK's pharma plant, Asian Paints expansion and Shahi Exports new unit in the state.
