Orissa could steel a deal with Mittal

New Delhi: After scripting a blockbuster merger with Luxembourg steel giant Arcelor, steel tycoon L N Mittal is turning his attention to India.

Mittal will visit Orissa on Friday to discuss investment proposals with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Mittal India visit has generated much interest in political and administrative circles.

Though few could spell out what the discussion would revolve around, the state government is trying to rope in Mittal to set up a steel plant in the state.

Mittal has already signed an MoU with the Jharkhand Government for setting up a 12 mt steel plant at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore.

The state government has so far signed Memorandums of Understanding with 43 companies to establish steel plants in the state.

Among them are the South Korean steel giant POSCO, Tata Steel, ESSAR steel and Jindal Steel.

However, none of these agreements have shown any progress on ground so far. POSCO has proposed to set up a 12 mt plant near Paradip at a cost of Rs 52,000 crore.

Several other major players including Tata Steel and Essar have also signed MoUs to set up steel projects.

While Tata Steel intended to locate the plant at Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district, Essar had plans to set up the project at Paradip.