SAIL-ArcelorMittal $1bn JV: Talks on track

Officials from SAIL and ArcelorMittal representatives during the discussion in London   

THE joint working group of between state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and world’s largest steel major ArcelorMittal, established to prepare a feasibility report for the proposed $1 billion joint venture between the two steel makers to produce automotive steel in the country, has completed a major part of its work. This was announced by the two companies after a high-level delegation met in London. The Indian side was represented by Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh, SAIL chairman PK Singh.
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.
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 discussions earlier this week followed completion of a major part of the project’s feasibility study.
“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 statement added.
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.