NEW DELHI: Steelmaker ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) on Thursday inked an agreement with the Odisha government for setting up a 12 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) greenfield integrated steel plant in Kendrapada district with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore, officials said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and steel tycoon Lakshmi N Mittal were present during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Lokaseva Bhavan, the state secretariat.
ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel is one of the largest steel makers of the world and combines the financial might of the LN Mittal Group and the technological prowess and management strength of Nippon Steel, a Japanese company.
Mittal met Patnaik at his residence Naveen Niwas earlier in the day and discussed his company ArcelorMittal”s projects in the state, an official said.
The industrialist had met Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi on Tuesday. “Kendrapara in the east coast provides ideal prospects for an Integrated Steel Complex. The state government will provide all the required support and facilitation for the setting up of this mega project,” the chief minister said.
Patnaik claimed that Odisha has successfully emerged as the most attractive investment destination in the country because of its forward-looking industrial policy, facilitation mechanism and robust infrastructure growth.
Mittal said that he is happy to partner with the Odisha government in setting up the integrated steel complex at Kendrapara.
AM/NS India has other investments in Odisha, including the 6 MTPA pelletization plant in Paradip which is likely to be expanded to 12 MTPA and the benefaction complex and slurry pipeline projects already operational in Keonjhar.
Mittal said that he is amazed at the speed of work by the state government and termed it as the best he has witnessed in his world-wide business experience.
On the other hand, Pradhan has extended his congratulations to steel major ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel India and Odisha Government for signing an MoU on 4th March, 2021 for setting up a 12 MT integrated steel plant in Kendrapada district of Odisha with an investment of Rs 50000 crore.
“This mega steel plant in Kendrapada will bring a new wave of economic development and employment generation in Odisha and will give boost to Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of Purvodaya and Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, said Minister Pradhan in a statement.
Minister Pradhan had earlier launched Mission Purvodaya in steel sector to drive growth of eastern India to make it an integrated steel hub through setting up a steel cluster and greenfield capacity addition. The mission is in line with Prime Minister’s vision of Purvodaya for driving growth of eastern India, and will contribute to achieving National Steel Policy’s envisioned capacity of 300 MTPA by 2030.
Government of India is committed to provide all kind of facilities for setting up of this mega steel plant. The 12 MT steel plant is a culmination of the Government of India’s efforts towards bringing in investors for wealth creation and employment generation through supportive policy reforms such as National Steel Policy as well as facilitative infrastructure.
This ArcelorMittal-Nippon mega steel plant in Kendrapada will benefit from massive infrastructure developments in the region over the past six years such as expansion of Paradip port and setting up of Mahanadi riverine port, key freight and passenger rail corridors such as the Paradip-Haridaspur new line, fast-track construction of highways etc.
Pradhan expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for according highest priority to the holistic and business-friendly development initiatives in Odisha.
