3½ years after MoU, Centre-Jharkhand row continues to stall ArcelorMittal plans

“There is no confusion at this end,” said Tiwari. “Since Arcelor- Mittal had filed an application for the mining lease, the state government recommended it for the same.” The mines contain nearly 600 million tonne of iron ore reserve. On October 8, 2004, L N Mittal, owner of the company, had inked an MoU with the state government envisaging an investment of Rs 40,000 crore for setting up a 12 million capacity greenfield steel plant, besides a township, a 2500 MW thermal power plant and a technical institution.

Although it had identified the site located along the border of Kamdara block in Gumla district and Torpa block in Khunti district, ArcelorMittal had not acquired an inch of land till date mainly because the state government was yet to notify its resettlement and rehabilitation policy. “In the absence of this policy, we are at a loss not to kick start the project,” said an employee of ArcelorMittal on condition of anonymity.

To counter the agitationists, the company was using sport to gain a foothold in the Khunti-Gumla belt where hockey was popular. The company had sponsored block level hockey tournament for girls during April 2-6 in which 12 teams from the area participated.