SPITTING FIRE MITTAL BLAMES ALL OF INDIA

LNM slams 'unprepared' govt

Says India Hasn't Been Able To Handle Surge In Big Investments

LN MITTAL successfully fought off French and Spanish governments' resistance to buy Arcelor in 2006, but on Thursday the Indian establishment came in for a stinging attack from the London-based steel tycoon for its inability to facilitate his multi-billion-dollar steel projects at home — nearly five years after these were conceived. 

    In a rare display of frustration at the tardy pace of the progress of his projects in India, the billionaire businessman pinned the blame on the country's inability to move things. "The entire country is to be blamed for the delay in execution of the projects," Mr Mittal, among the world's top 10 richest people, told reporters in New Delhi. And in venting his ire, he joins a long list of business groups, notably the Tatas, Sterlite and South Korea's Posco, which have all seen their projects get mired in problems related to land acquisition, environmental clearances, red tape and a lack of infrastructure. "I am unhappy with the progress achieved so far on the proposed projects in Jharkhand and Orissa," Mr Mittal said. 
    The CEO and majority shareholder of Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker, announced plans in 2005 to set up a $10-billion steel plant in Jharkhand following Posco's plan to build a steel mill for $12 billion in Orissa, which could have made it the biggest foreign direct investment in India. In 2006, Mr Mittal said he would build a similar plant in Orissa.But none of these plans have progressed as government departments dither and locals accuse these companies of strong-arm tactics in grabbing land they have lived on for centuries without adequate compensation. 
    After years of waiting, Mr Mittal rationalises that the problems may be due to the country's inability to handle a surge of big-ticket investment proposals, fuelled by unprecedented interest in investing in India. ArcelorMittal may look at Chhattisgarh 
"WE have not experienced this kind of growth and interest in investments in India before. Neither the central government nor the states were prepared for such growth," he said, adding that he would share his concerns with the prime minister. 
    But Mr Mittal, who built his global steel empire starting off with a small steel plant in Indonesia in the 1970s, is not giving up on his ambitions in the country of his birth yet. While he lives in London, Mr Mittal continues to retain an Indian passport. 
    With his efforts to kick-start greenfield projects in India not gaining traction, Mr Mittal, who has most of his assets overseas, last year sought to build up an Indian presence using another route. He has agreed to buy up a 35% stake in Uttam Galva Steels for an estimated Rs 500 crore. 
    "Since I left India in 1976, it has always been my intention to build an operating presence here and this transaction will give us our first manufacturing presence on the ground," Mr Mittal said in a statement last September. Mr Mittal is also moving on other fronts. 
    In November last year, ArcelorMittal got permission from the Karnataka government to set up a Rs 30,000-crore steel plant with a capacity to produce 6 million tonne of steel per year. The state government will ensure basic infrastructure support for the project, which is expected to spread over 4,000 acres and also comprise a 750-megawatt power plant. 
    "The Karnataka project may become a priority if work on Jharkhand and Orissa steel projects doesn't take off soon," Mr Mittal said on Thursday. 
    ArcelorMittal may look at Chhattisgarh as an alternative location to set up a 12-million-tonne steel manufacturing unit, if any of the plants in Jharkhand and Orissa don't take off, he added. 
    Plans of companies such as Tata Steel, which announced a 6-milliontonne plant in Orissa in 2004, and JSW Steel, which wants to boost capacity by 12 million tonnes in setting up plans in three states, are all crawling and it may be difficult for many companies to complete the projects on schedule. 
    "I sympathise with the companies building greenfield projects," steel minister Virbhadra Singh was quoted as saying last month. "It's a time-consuming process."

We have not experienced this kind of growth and interest in investments in India before. Neither the central govt nor the states were prepared for such growth. 
LN MITTAL CEO, ARCELORMITTAL