"I don't think our sights are set to equal or better Lakshmi Niwas Mittal," Tata said at a press conference after announcing the agreement with Corus Group.
Interestingly, when Mittal acquired Arcelor, Tata had said that promoters would be increased in Tata Steel to ward off hostile takeover bids.
Asked how long will Tata Steel take to close in on Arcelor-Mittal following the acquisition of Corus, he said the company had no such targets.
"I think our sights are set on strategic fit," he said, adding Tata Steel would have went ahead with the acquisition of Corus even if it were a five million tonne company.
While Arcelor-Mittal have a total capacity of 110 million tonnnes per annum, Tata-Corus will have a total capacity of 24 mtpa making it the fifth largest steel producer in the world. By 2011-12, Tata Steel expects to increase total capacity to 40 mtpa.
Tata said the group would give priority to its strategic plans rather than going for size, as it goes for expansion inorganically.
"In future, should there be a strategic opportunity and if it meets our prudential norms, in order to avail of it we would look at that. But it will not be just to gain tonnage number," he said.
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