Mittal visits India with plans to invest $9 Billion

A week after conquering a five-month battle to acquire rival Arcelor, a European steel company, Mittal Steel chairman Lakshmi N. Mittal made a triumphant visit to India and announced Friday that he planned to invest as much as US$ 9 billion to build a steel plant in an impoverished eastern area of India.

The planned investment of Rotterdam based Mittal Steel, which would be between 300 billion and 400 billion rupees, or $ 6.7 billion to $ 9 billion, would go towards creating one new unit in the mineral-rich coastal state of Orissa. The plant would be one of India's largest, built in two phases, with a capacity of 12 million tons per year.

The other plant would possibly be in Jharkhand, another mineral-rich neighboring state where the company already has a pact for a steel unit, but unhappy with the progress in getting approvals.

"We wanted to see if could have better infrastructure and facilities elsewhere," Mittal, who was unhappy with the slow pace of negotiations there and concerned about the poor infrastructure, said. He added that it was not yet clear whether both phases of the two-stage development would be located in Orissa, or if one phase would be built in each state.

"We will invest 400 billion Rupees (8.5 billion U.S. dollars) over the next five to seven years in Orissa and also, perhaps, in Jharkhand," Mittal said in New Delhi.

"As I have said, we will focus on China and India to grow," a news agency cited Mittal as saying.

Mittal, also known as a takeover tycoon who picks up sick steel units cheap and turns them around, spoke about his long-term vision in India, but at the same time added he had no immediate plans to acquire Indian steel firms.

The Indian government gave Mittal a warm welcome. On Friday he thanked friends in his native country for their support during the struggle for Arcelor, saying he was at the receiving end of "so much hostility." Mittal said he would be thanking the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his support during a private meeting later Friday.