Bhubaneswar/Ranchi, Oct 5 (IANS) A day after a noted British paper said steel giant ArcelorMittal was close to pulling out its proposed steel projects in Jharkhand and Orissa, the states Monday said they had not received any communication in this regard.
“I have no information on that. Maybe he (ArcelorMittal chairman Lakshmi N. Mittal) was talking about the land acquisition problems. The land acquisition process is still on in the state,” Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters in Bhubaneswar.

British daily Financial Times Sunday quoted Mittal as saying his company may pull out of the $20-billion plan to build greenfield steel projects in Jharkhand and Orissa.

Mittal said if the land acquisition problems were not resolved soon, the company would look for alternative sites for the projects.

Earlier Monday, Jharkhand Industries Secretary N.N. Sinha had made a statement similar to Naveen Patnaik’s.

“We have no information that ArcelorMittal is planning to wind up its greenfield steel project in the state,” Sinha told IANS in Ranchi.

Many industrial projects, including of ArcelorMittal, are facing land acquisition problems in the state, he said, adding: “But the state government is trying to resolve this problem.”

The steel maker has proposed to set up a 12-million-tonne steel plant in the bordering Khuti and Gumla districts of Jharkhand and another greenfield project in Orissa’s Keonjhar.

But the company is facing strong resistance from local residents against acquisition of their lands.

Television channel NDTV Profit quoting company sources reported Monday that ArcelorMittal has no plans to pull out of the Orissa and Jharkhand projects.