Steel baron Mittal asks NRIs to invest in India
Mittal, who is planning to set up his manufacturing base in India, feels this is the right time for investing in India.
Steel baron Lakshmi N. Mittal, who is planning to set up his first manufacturing base in India, feels this is the right time for investing in Indian steel sector.
The world's largest steel maker with 14 manufacturing units producing about 60 million tonnes, Mittal expects to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Jharkhand government in a couple of weeks for setting up a steel plant.
"Negotiations are going on with the Jharkhand government. We hope to sign a memorandumn of understanding in a couple of weeks," Mittal, chairman and CEO of the Mittal group, told reporters after signing an agreement with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Saturday for setting up two joint ventures in oil and related fields.
About the 10 million tonnes steel plant in Jharkhand, Mittal said: "Despite our diversification to the oil sector, the Mittal group is not changing focus from steel".
Mittal, who met Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan earlier in the day, was happy on being assured that a National Steel Policy as also a policy on iron-ore would be announced soon.
The steel policy, which envisages a 110-million-tonne steel-making capacity in the country by 2020, has already been sent to the cabinet for approval, official sources said.
"Considering that India envisages a high demand growth in the coming years with a capacity requirement of 110 million tonnes, I felt this is the right time for me to invest in India in the steel sector," Mittal told IANS.
"I have been telling my NRI friends about the many investment opportunities in India," said Mittal, adding that he too had been waiting for the right time.
