ArcelorMittal to start work on India projects soon

Pinning hopes on developing economies for its future growth, ArcelorMittal has said that it expects to start work on one of its Rs 1.3 lakh-crore (Rs 1.3 trillion) India projects in early 2011.

"We believe that in 2011 in one of the projects we will break the ground, we don't know which one. . .it is our hope that it should be in the first quarter or the second quarter," ArcelorMittal chairman and chief executive officer Lakshmi N Mittal told PTI over phone after the announcement of second quarter results on Wednesday.

Incidentally, ArceloreMittal announced lower than expected net profit of $1.7 billion for the second quarter, while admitting this was the effect of the slowdown in Europe and a demand dip in China.

"The impact would be more in third quarter (ending September). . . we expect India to grow may be at 10 per cent. . . we are pegging our hopes on the developing economies for business growth," he said.

ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker, accounting for six per cent of the global production, announced plans to set up projects in Jharkhand in 2005 and in Orissa a year later.

In June this year, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Karnataka government for a Rs 30,000-crore (Rs 300-billion) steel project.

He was optimistic about the Karnataka project, for which he signed an MoU with the state government last month saying, "We are very satisfied with the progress we are making in Karnataka.

"Before we start ground breaking we have to have the resources and infrastructure in place. In fact, we have made progress in acquiring land near Bellary. . . we have paid the money required this time for land acquisition. . . I don't know whether it is Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) or what, but whatever was needed we have paid," he said.

Last month, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who had invited Mittal as the chief guest during a global investors meet at Bangalore, had said that the company has already paid the initial Rs 600 crore for land acquisition.

The company is said to require a total of 4,000 hectares land.

On the progress made on Jharkhand project, he said that efforts were being made to put all resources in place for construction of the 12-MTPA steel plant.

The company has already been allocated iron ore mines in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand where it is awaiting clearances over more such deposits.

Faced with regulatory hurdles and protests in land acquisition, the company has moved to a new site near Bokaro from Khunti-Gumla area, proposed earlier.