Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, who has made a bid for European steel maker Arcelor SA, said yesterday that he plans to build a plant in India that would produce 10.9 million tonnes of steel annually -- making it one of the biggest in the country.
London-based Mittal said he plans to invest 300 billion to 400 billion rupees (US$6.7 billion to US$9 billion) in the project in the eastern state of Orissa.
``We are interested in putting a 12 million ton [10.9 million tonnes] steel plant in two phases [of] 6 million tons each, in Orissa,'' Mittal told reporters after meeting the state's top elected official.
The project in Orissa is part of his strategy to look to India and China for growth, said Indian-born Mittal, who has yet to build a plant in his native country.
Mittal, who owns most of Netherlands-based Mittal Steel, has made a 26 billion euros (US$33 billion) bid to acquire Luxembourg-based Arcelor.
Arcelor shareholders have until next Thursday to accept the offer from Mittal, which needs to win 50 percent of the shares for its bid to succeed. If the offer goes through, the stock swap should take place on Aug. 1. The Arcelor board approved the merger on June 26.
When asked if he was also looking for acquisitions in Asia, Mittal said: ``We usually do not talk about our takeover plans, and we have said that now we will focus on China and India.''
Mittal was meeting India prime minister and business leaders later in the day.
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