Orissa unaware of Mittal’s plan to change plant site

The Orissa government today said they are unaware of ArcelorMittal’s proposal for change in the site of its proposed greenfield steel project.

“We have been repeatedly assured by the company that it is committed to set up its plant at Keonjhar. I am not aware of any proposal for change in site of the proposed steel plant from Keonjhar district,” Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty told PTI while reacting to a statement from Aditya Mittal, CFO of the world’s largest steel maker.

“We are in talks (with the state governments) for (new) potential sites for our projects. We can shift the sites within the two states. Theoretically, we are also looking at other sites within the country,” Mittal said earlier in the day.

When contacted, a senior company official also said they too were not aware of any proposal regarding relocation of its proposed steel plant.

The company, which inked an MoU with the state government in December 2006 for setting up of a 12-mpta steel mill at Keonjhar district at an investment of Rs 40,000 crore, had been unable to acquire any land due to opposition from locals.

The world’s largest steel maker was not happy over the progress on its Orissa and Jharkhand projects.

Meanwhile, the minister said the company had assured the state government to submit its DPR (detailed project report) soon.