ArcelorMittal awaiting nod for greenfield steel plant: CEO

HYDERABAD: AMNS India is awaiting forest and environment clearances to take forward the process to set up a 12 million tonne greenfield steel plant in Odisha, its CEO Dilip Oommen has said.

In March 2021, Gujarat-based ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/ NS India) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Odisha government for setting up the project in Kendrapara with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore.

“We have (already) applied for the necessary approvals (like) forest and environment clearances and waiting for it,” Oommen said at the Hyderabad Airport in reply to a question on the progress of plans for the proposed plant.

When asked by when the company expects to get the clearances, Oommen said, “We have applied, such processes take time”.

AMNS India is a 60:40 joint venture (JV) company between Mittal’s Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel of Japan.

In May 2021, AMNS India had informed about initiating a feasibility study for the project.

“The company has initiated, in coordination with the Government of Odisha: a feasibility study, securing relevant permissions, land acquisition, developing logistics infrastructure and other enabling conditions to plan for the project construction,” it had said.

The report was submitted to the Odisha government in the October-December quarter of 2021. The company has reported an EBITDA of $470 mn for March 2022 quarter, registering a year-on-year growth of 16.62 pc, helped by the sale of pellets.

In the year-ago quarter, the company had posted an EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) of $403 million.