Arcelor-Mittal team to visit Orissa to study steel project

Bhubaneswar, July 11 (UNI) On the commitment of Arcelor-Mittal Chairman L N Mittal to set up a mega steel project in Orissa, an expert team of the company is expected to arrive here next week.

The team led by former Rourkela Steel Plant Chairman Sanak Mishra would study the infrastructural facilities and availability of raw materials besides water and power for the project.

Mr Mittal, who flew in from London on July 7, announced his desire to set up a 12 million tonne project with an investment of Rs 40,000 crore in the state during a discussion with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Welcoming the proposal, the state government had decided to set up a core committee to expedite the project with the Arcelor-Mittal team introduced by Mr Mittal here.

The state government has proposed Dhamra, Gopalpur and Keonjhar as ideal sites for setting up of the mega steel plant. The team, sources said, would visit all these sites during their week-long stay in the state.

The visit of the team has assumed significance as the Mittal Steel Company had already signed an MoU with the Jharkhand government earlier for setting up of the same project.

Expressing his dissatisfaction over the progress of the project in Jharkhand, Mr Mittal had hinted to go ahead with the Orissa steel plant project if things would move first.

UNI DP PP CS DS1537