ET reported that ArcelorMittal has proposed a joint venture company with Steel Authority of India to set up an integrated steel plant near the latter’s existing steel making facility at Bokaro in Jharkhand.
The report cited a government official in the know of the development as saying that “ArcelorMittal has proposed a 50:50 joint venture to set up a 3 million tonne to 4 million tonne steel plant with SAIL at an investment of around INR 12,000 crore. The proposal would be considered for its merit before a decision is taken.”
ArcelorMittal’s proposal comes close on the heels of Korean steel maker POSCO’s offer to SAIL to form a JV company for the same steel project.
Both POSCO and ArcelorMittal’s Indian dreams have been delayed on land acquisition and iron ore linkages and by joining hand with SAIL, they expect to put their foot in India.
On the other hand, SAIL has decided to partner with global steel major to get access to latest technology in steel making and start producing certain special grades of steel that is currently imported in the country.
SAIL is already operating a 4.36 million tonne steel plant in Bokaro. The second phase of expansion at the site is on, which will take the plant’s existing capacity to 7.5 million tonne by 2011-12. Its Bokaro steel plant has surplus land of over 15,000 acres at present that could be utilized by the proposed joint venture company to develop parallel operations. Partnership with SAIL will provide the joint venture assurance on land and other infrastructure facilities including raw material linkages.
