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Journalism of Courage
The worlds biggest steelmaker ArcelorMittal has said the cost of its two proposed steel projects has shot up by Rs 30,000 crore and is unlikely to be commissioned before 2014. It has expressed concern that land acquisition issues are far from getting resolved.
Promoted by steel tycoon Lakshmi Niwas Mittal,ArcelorMittal had proposed to set up two steel plants in India,one each in Jharkhand and Orissa,worth Rs 80,000 crore,for which it requires mines and adequate land.
There is a firm determination on our part to set up the plants. In the present situation,we envisage that we would be able to ignite the blast furnaces only by 2014. We are trying our best on the ground. But issues like the tardy pace of land acquisition and ensuring iron ore mines need to be sorted out, company senior spokesman Stefan Schwarz said.
ArcelorMittal India CEO Vijay Bhatnagar had sometime ago said the company plans to go slow and envisages taking off only after 2011. Not just the slowdown,but also the cumbersome land acquisition process is not encouraging, Bhatnagar had also said. The company has been offered only 25 acres so far out of its total requirement of 7,750 acres needed for the entire project. Similarly,in Jharkhand,it has already deposited Rs 12.5 crore as land fees for securing 1,023 acres,but has not met with much success. It requires about 11,000 acres in Jharkhand for its plant in Khunti and Gumla districts.
Similarly on the raw material security front,the company has been continuing its struggle to secure captive mines in both the states. While in Jharkhand,it has managed to get a small lease,but nothing has come from the coastal state. We understand that costs would shoot up by 25-30 per cent from the current estimated costs, the spokesman reasoned. We have the money ready for both the projects as our company has a cash reserve of $13.5 billion, Schwarz,said.
