Steel Minister Blames Mittal, Not India, For Delays

[IndoCarib]

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India’s steel minister is fuming. His national pride has been hurt after billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, complained earlier this year about delays in constructing two proposed plants in India.

“He should stop maligning India and the Indian government. Why is he not beginning work on his projects,” Beni Prasad Verma, the minister, told a local news agency.

Why not indeed? Maybe Mr. Mittal just likes not building steel plants in a country where demand is expected to grow at 8%-9% a year for the next decade, while growth in Europe and the U.S. is less robust.

Or perhaps India’s government should take a good look at itself.

Mr. Mittal signed pacts with state governments six years ago to build the two steel plants. But efforts to acquire the land for the projects is still ongoing, highlighting one of the main obstacles to investment in manufacturing facilities in India.

In comparison to Mr. Verma, who is known for his verbal indiscretions, Mr. Mittal’s comments earlier this year while on a trip to India were measured.

“I feel bad; I feel a bit concerned about delays in the steel projects,” Mr. Mittal said. He added that, ”There’s no way I can ignore India, and I am not giving up on these projects.”

Mr. Verma imperiously chided Mr. Mittal for not contacting him to sort out hurdles to the projects, even though a steel minister, like the Indian president, has very little actual powers.

Mr. Verma’s oversees two large state-owned steel and iron ore mining companies, Steel Authority of India Ltd and NMDC Ltd. Mr. Verma occasionally summons officials from the two companies to his office over operational matters. Beyond these companies, he has little say over India’s steel sector.

Other private-sector steelmakers would have found Mr. Verma’s comments equally bizarre.

Steel companies have been unable to start a single major project in the last five years. Tata Steel will be the first big steel maker to complete a new plant, when it finishes construction of its Kalinganagar project in the eastern state of Orissa, expected within a year.

“The way things are going now, India may have to import $40 billion-$50 billion worth of steel a year from 2020, making it the third biggest imported item after crude and gold,” Jindal Steel & Power Ltd’s deputy managing director V.R. Sharma said at an industry conference in May.

Let’s return to Mr. Mittal, who was born in India but now lives in London. He had signed initial pacts with the state governments of Orissa and Jharkhand to build a 12-million-tons-a-year plant in each state.

But protests from landowners, mostly local tribal populations, have stalled these projects. The company has shifted its project site in Jharkhand state and has started seeing slow progress in land acquisition, though the company is still far off from starting either project.

In Karnataka state, where ArcelorMittal signed a third pact to start another plant three years back, the company also has been unable to complete land acquisition.

Acquiring land remains a fraught process, almost completely controlled by state governments, with no involvement of federal authorities. Local landowners have increasingly become opposed to displacement, scuttling several industrial projects in India.

But that’s not the only hurdle. Getting a federal clearance from the environment ministry is a long exercise which can take years. Even then, environmentalists can challenge such clearances, causing further delays, as another steelmaker, South Korea’s Posco, is finding out.

Steel Minister Blames Mittal, Not India, For Delays - India Real Time - WSJ

Some audacity this minister has. Now wonder investors think twice, thrice before investing in India !

[jbgt90]

lets be honest , the minister knows a lot more that you and i do . i find it surprising that while others who invest in India are able to start their plants (widely diversified) , mittal has not for 6 yrs. a man of his know how should not have had any problem doing business . one has to just read the book "COLD STEEL" to know that he has bribed cajoled and blackmailed his way to success. so i doubt he could not build his plant .

we should not be so blinded by our hatred for the govt , so as not to even question if the minister has a point.

[hinduguy]

lets be honest , the minister knows a lot more that you and i do . i find it surprising that while others who invest in India are able to start their plants (widely diversified) , mittal has not for 6 yrs. a man of his know how should not have had any problem doing business . one has to just read the book "COLD STEEL" to know that he has bribed cajoled and blackmailed his way to success. so i doubt he could not build his plant .

we should not be so blinded by our hatred for the govt , so as not to even question if the minister has a point.

We dont know what Mr Minister know, nor is he talking about that. He is basically saying, why did you not contact me in private than opening your mouth in public.
The issue is, he himself has no power to do anything for Mr Mittal, the local state govt( chief minister) is the man who can make things happen.

[IndoCarib]

lets be honest , the minister knows a lot more that you and i do . i find it surprising that while others who invest in India are able to start their plants (widely diversified) , mittal has not for 6 yrs. a man of his know how should not have had any problem doing business . one has to just read the book "COLD STEEL" to know that he has bribed cajoled and blackmailed his way to success. so i doubt he could not build his plant .

we should not be so blinded by our hatred for the govt , so as not to even question if the minister has a point.

Have you heard of a company called POSCO ?? Why they have not been able to set up a plant even after 10 years ?? This dumb minister is just talking through his hat.

He is neither doing any work, nor he wants to criticized

[hinduguy]

Have you heard of a company called POSCO ?? Why they have not been able to set up a plant even after 10 years ?? This dumb minister is just talking through his hat.

He is neither doing any work, nor he wants to criticized

He cant do anything because he has no power. Only orissa govt can lobby and move the project. The best steel minister of India can do is delay the project, he cant do anything else. The environment minister has more power in this regard.

[harpoon]

Can anyone name the steel plants that went into operation in the last 10 years or so.All I hear is agitations against proposed steel plants by tribals & environmentalists.

[jbgt90]

Have you heard of a company called POSCO ?? Why they have not been able to set up a plant even after 10 years ?? This dumb minister is just talking through his hat.

He is neither doing any work, nor he wants to criticized

that for you information has been held up by the environment ministry . they found them flouting all norms and falsifying data.

but the fact of the matter is that the posco did build their plant and has started a little production.

[IndoCarib]

that for you information has been held up by the environment ministry . they found them flouting all norms and falsifying data.

but the fact of the matter is that the posco did build their plant and has started a little production.

FYI, That' s not correct

The state government had recently said it was ready to transfer 2,000 acres to Posco India where it could start work for the 12-million-tonne steel plant. Billed as the biggest foreign direct investment with the project cost pegged at $12 billion, Posco’s steel mill proposed near Paradip is yet to see the light of the day, battling land acquisition protests from locals for more than seven years.

Tripartite pact with Posco in final stage, says govt


India's environment ministry approved on Monday South Korean POSCO's plans for a $12 billion steel mill, a boost for the foreign investment climate in Asia's third-largest economy after several setbacks for big ticket industrial projects.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...70U1LI20110131

[laman12345]

Delay = India Style

sorry I just tell the truth

[harpoon]

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Delay = India Style

sorry I just tell the truth

Sorry ..unlike CCP, Indian govt cannot force their citizens to move away from their land for whatever purposes it may be.