Homecoming: Mittal visits Orissa & Delhi
Close on heels of acquiring a 45% stake in the world’s largest steel company, Arcelor, LN Mittal has decided to turn his sights on Orissa, the country’s richest state in terms of iron ore reserves.
By Rakhi Mazumdar, TNN |
KOLKATA: Close on heels of acquiring a 45% stake in the world’s largest steel company, Arcelor, LN Mittal has decided to turn his sights on Orissa, the country’s richest state in terms of iron ore reserves.
Mr Mittal is slated to touch down in Bhubaneswar on Friday in what will be his first visit home after the mega merger. The visit is ostensibly, a response to an invitation from the Orissa chief minister to visit the state.
This time Mr Mittal will be travelling all by himself during his day long visit to India on Friday. Immediately after his meeting with the Orissa CM in the CM’s Secretariat on Friday morning, he is scheduled to fly to New Delhi where he has an appointment with top political leaders including the Prime Minister, Mr Manmohan Singh.
He is also scheduled to address a joint press meet with ONGC’s acting chairman RS Sharma in New Delhi in the afternoon, where he is slated to make a few announcements regarding ONGC Mittal Energy, his joint venture with the country’s largest oil and gas exploration company.
Mittal sources are not yet ready to disclose any details about the proposed nature of the visit. “We have no concrete proposal for any greenfield project in Orissa at this point in time. Mr Mittal has decided to visit the state in response to the CM’s invitation,” top Mittal Steel sources in London told ET on Friday.
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Significantly enough, the visit is being construed as a step being taken by Mr Mittal to keep his options open, in case he is unable to secure adequate linkages of iron ore for its proposed 12m tonne greenfield steel venture in Jharkhand. He could also decide to shift the project to Orissa, where indications are that he may get an easier access to iron ore reserves than he has been able to achieve so far.It is obvious that there is growing concern in the company about securing mining rights in Jharkhand. “There is a problem in Jharkhand in terms of getting the mines. The government seems unable to resolve the issue of mining rights, yet. Unless there is security in supply of ore, projects of this nature cannot be viable,” top Mittal sources told ET.
Mr Mittal is also believed to have been eyeing a portion of Chiria iron ore mines in Jharkhand, considered to hold vast reserves of some of the best quality iron ore in the world.
Referring to it Mittal sources said “the whole issue is caught up in legal wrangles.” The Chiria mines leased out to Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCo), a subsidiary of SAIL. But when the lease came up for renewal, the state government had declined to renew it citing lack of investment by SAIL.
In the meantime, IISCo has been merged into SAIL. A recent tribunal decision has also sided with SAIL regarding possession of the lease. The matter is currently sub judice with the state government filing an appeal at the Ranchi high court.
Steel industry insiders point out, given these two factors largely narrow down the chances of Jharkhand government leasing out the mines to any other party.
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