Union Steel Minister Chaudhry Birendra Singh on Tuesday met ArcelorMittal Chairman lakshmi Mittal and discussed the proposed $1 billion automotive steel joint venture (JV) between ArcelorMittal and SAIl in India.
“ArcelorMittal welcomed Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh, Union Minister of Steel of the Government of India, PK Singh, Chairman, SAIl and the Indian Government’s Joint Secretary Ministry of Steel, Sunil Barthwal, to its london offices for discussions regarding the proposed US$1 billion automotive steel joint venture (‘JV’) between ArcelorMittal and SAIl,” said a joint statement from ArcelorMittal and SAIl.
“lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO, Aditya Mittal, group CFO and CEO ArcelorMittal Europe and Brian Aranha, Executive Vice President and head of global automotive, who is leading the joint venture discussions on behalf of ArcelorMittal, attended the meeting along with other members of senior management,” added the statement.
ArcelorMittal and SAIl signed a Memorandum of Understanding in May 2015 to explore the possibility of setting up a state-of-the-art automotive steel manufacturing facility under a JV arrangement in India.
The proposed JV will construct world-class facilities for manufacturing automotive steel that will offer technologically advanced steel products for India’s rapidly growing automotive sector. The hot rolled input products for the proposed facility would be supplied by SAIl’s new state-of-the-art hot strip mill in Rourkela, Odisha, thus making the entire value chain indigenous.
The project’s Joint Working Group, which was established following the signing of the MoU, has completed the major part of the project’s Feasibility Report.
India is forecast to become the world’s third largest automobile manufacturing nation by 2026, with passenger vehicles likely to grow from approximately 3 million units today to over 7 million units in the next 10 years. In response to the growing level of automotive demand, and supported by the Indian Government’s ‘Make In India’ programme which has been designed to transform India into a global manufacturing hub, automotive manufacturers have been establishing an increased presence in the country.
ArcelorMittal is the world’s leading steel and mining company, with a presence in 60 countries and an industrial footprint in 19 countries. Guided by a philosophy to produce safe, sustainable steel, we are the leading supplier of quality steel in the major global steel markets including automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging, with world-class research and development and outstanding distribution networks.
Steel Authority of India ltd is India’s largest steel maker and among the top Government owned companies conferred with the prestigious ‘Maharatna’ status. Government of India currently owns 75 per cent of SAIl’s shares, the rest being held by FIs and individuals. With a turnover of about $9 billion employing around 85,000 people across India; SAIl owns and operates 5 integrated steel plants at Bhilai, Durgapur, Bokaro, Rourkela and Burnpur, 3 special steel plants and ferro-alloy & refractory manufacturing units. SAIl is also the second largest producer of iron ore in India and meets 100 per cent requirement from captive mines.
