BHUBANESWAR: With patience running thin after a long wait to see its greenfield projects in Odisha and Jharkhand take off, ArcelorMittal seems to have learnt it the hard way that the wait has to be much longer. And hours after a ‘harsh’ statement from the company spokesperson in New Delhi, the State Government said it would review the project’s progress. India-shy L N Mittal, the company CEO, had told his shareholders at a meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday that Indian projects may not see the light for the next five to 10 years. Taking cue, an ArcelorMittal official said in Delhi the company recognises that patience is required to realise mega plans in the country. “As such, we don’t expect our greenfield projects materialising in the next five years,” the spokesperson said. “The processes of acquiring land, obtaining governmental approvals and securing raw material are marred by considerable delays.” However, the statement said the company is committed to the project. ArcelorMittal, the largest steel-maker in the world, is planning a 12 mt per annum capacity plant with an investment of `40,000 cr at Patana in Keonjhar district. An MoU was signed way back in 2006. Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty told mediapersons on Wednesday that status of all the MoUs will be reviewed at a high-level meeting shortly to ascertain the factors responsible for the undue delay in the execution of the projects. The State Government certainly wants to know the reason for the delay in execution of the steel projects, including the one proposed by ArcelorMittal, Mohanty observed. “Although the company has applied for renewal of the MoU which expired on December, 2011, it is yet to submit the detailed project report (DPR),” he said. The steel major, which requires 7,753 acres of land, 4,905 acres of which is private, in Patana tehsil, has completed ‘gram sabhas’ in eight out of 15 villages. ‘Grama sabhas’ could not be conducted for the remaining seven villages due to opposition from the affected villagers. As 765 acres of land is coming under forest category, the company has moved the Government for its clearance for acquisition of the forest land. The company has announced plans to set up 12 mt steel plant in Jharkhand and another 6 mt plant in Karnataka. The Jharkhand project has not made much progress either. Chief of ArcelorMittal’s Odisha project Sasanka Mishra gave it in writing to the Government last year that the company was committed to its proposed investment in the State. The assurance came following media reports that the company was planning to shift its Odisha project.
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