People and Project Problems for Lakshmi Mittal

Image: Vivek Prakash / Reuters

Lakshmi Mittal’s ArcelorMittal might shelve another of its two planned mega steel projects in India following the exit of some of its senior executives, including Sanak Mishra, CEO of Greenfield Projects (see Transitions). In July, Mittal had put off a similar project in Odisha. Besides the delays in getting clearances, it has a net debt of almost $17 billion and is looking to cut expenditure. Thus, investment in additional units doesn’t make sense when capacity utilisation of steel plants has fallen across the world.

Now the question is which of the two projects—Jharkhand or Karnataka—will Mittal shelve? While land acquisition in the southern state is done, the billionaire is yet to get access to iron ore mines from the local administration. It is the other way around in Jharkhand, where acquiring land continues to be a hurdle, despite conditional grant of mining rights.