"We already had two rounds of discussions with Mittal Steel representatives. They are slated to visit Jharkhand again," Arjun Munda, Jharkhand Chief Minister said on the sidelines of the national development council meeting on Monday.
"Lot of industrialists are taking a keen interest in Jharkhand. We have already reached an understanding with the Aditya Birla Group for enabling them to invest Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) for setting up an aluminium smelter greenfield project," he said.
The Chief Minister said his government has signed an agreement with the Essar Group for enabling the later to construct a power project in the nascent state at an estimated cost of Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion).
Similarly, the Jindal Group has signed an agreement with the Jharkhand government to set up a five million tonne steel plant at Chandil near Jamshedpur besides another project at an estimated cost of Rs 11,000 crore (Rs 110 billion).
When asked to comment on Tata Steel's opposition to the Mittal Steel's project, Munda said the company's needs for iron ore would be taken care of.
On the planning commission's suggestion for levying tariff on power consumed by the farmers, the Chief Minister said there was a need to distinguish between a rich farmer and a poor one.
He said in a state like Jharkhand, where only one per cent of land is irrigated the focus should be on first providing power and thereafter on levying a tariff.
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