The world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal has decided to relocate its 12 million mt greenfield project from Khunti in Jharkhand to Bokaro Steel City in the Gumla district, also in Jharkhand, following land acquisition problems.
"ArcelorMittal has informed us that they want to shift to Petarwar (Bokaro) and need about 2,000 acres of land for the first phase of their project. They said the response from Petarwar was positive," Jharkhand mines and industries secretary N. N. Sinha told Press Trust of India.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, ArcelorMittal signed a memorandum of understanding with the Jharkhand government in 2005 for the setting up of a 12 million mt greenfield project, with an investment of $20 billion.
Since the beginning of the project, ArcelorMittal has faced problems acquiring land for the project, although the local government has plotted the land. The lands in question are currently used for farming, and the farmers in question have been unwilling to sell the land for industrial use. In October 2009, Lakshmi Mittal, the owner of ArcelorMittal, had threatened to abandon the idea of starting the project in Jharkland and to look for other places in India.