Steel cos fault Jharkhand for cosying up to Mittal

NEW DELHI: Domestic steel companies including Tata Steel, Essar and Jindal are up in arms against the Jharkhand government for ‘providing undue favour’ to Mittal Steel at their ‘expense’. In a recent meeting with state chief secretary MK Mandal, these companies threatened to pull out from Jharkhand if there is any delay in releasing iron ore to them.

At the meeting, all major domestic steel makers expressed their displeasure to the state government, stating that it was not taking their proposals seriously. In the last couple of years, the Jharkhand government had signed over 42 MoUs with investors including Tata Steel (10m tonnes), Jindal Steel and Power Company (6m tonne) and Essar Steel (4m tonne). The total investment here is projected at about Rs 1.70 lakh crore. However, no further progress has been reported on any project.

At the meeting, the Jharkhand government assured to review the status of all MoUs it had entered with steel makers and speed up clearances for projects, sources in Tata Steel told ET. Tata Steel had also registered a complaint about the slow progress in its proposed 12m tonne greenfield steel project. The company raised the issue of ‘double standards’ for according preferential treatment to “a MNC steel company” while denying the same to the domestic firm, sources added.

Besides the tardy progress of MoUs, Jindal Steel is understood to have raised security-related issues with the government and asked it to protect its interests from the Naxal threat. Others like Rungta Steel, ElectroSteel and Essar have also told the state to ensure that the Mittal factor would not affect their fortunes.