Steel king LN Mittal on Thursday expressed concern over the slow progress in the proposed Rs1 lakh crore steel projects in Jharkhand and Orissa, but ruled out exiting at this stage from the states, reports PTI.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has approved Mr Mittal's proposed Rs30,000-crore, six million tonnes steel project in the state and the pact will be signed in June this year.
"We are not satisfied with the progress made in Jharkhand and Orissa. We hope that we can make more progress than what we have achieved so far. But our endeavour will continue. We don't plan to exit from any of our projects," he told reporters in
"The plan remains the same but the project can come in phases," he said in reply to a query whether the global steel maker may scale down capacity of its 12 million tonne per annum (MTPA) plants, one each in Jharkhand and Orissa.
ArcelorMittal has been facing problems in acquiring land and delays in securing regulatory approvals for its proposed Rs1 lakh crore steel projects in Jharkhand and Orissa.
The non-resident Indian (NRI) billionaire is likely to raise these issues in a meeting with steel minister Virbhadra Singh today.
About the Karnataka project, Mr Mittal said, "The Karnataka government has given preliminary approval for the proposed plant. The Karnataka plant will be the company's third plant."
— Yogesh Sapkale