Steelmaker ArcelorMittal plans to invest Rs20bn ($262.83mn) in Odisha, India, said Lakshmi Mittal, Group Chairman and CEO in an interaction with the state’s chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The company may produce and export pellets from Odisha as the company could not reach its full production capacity in Hajira, Gujarat.
ArcelorMittal is also developing two mines in Odisha; Sagasai and Thakurani. One of these two, the Thakurani mine in Keonjhar with estimated reserves of 180mn mt, was secured by the steelmaker in February mine auctions.
The company also plans to expand the annual production capacity of its pellet plant in Paradip from the current 6mn mt to 12mn mt and there were talks of expansion of ArcelorMittal’s iron beneficiation plant in Baduna in Keonjhar from 5mn mt per annum to 16mn mt.
Earlier in 2006, the group has planned to establish a steel plant with an annual capacity of 12mn mt in the state. But owing to resistance from the locals in Keonjhar, the company withdrew the project.