Steelmaker POSCO-India on Monday dropped its plan to perform the groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed 12 million tonne per annum mega steel project in Orissa on April 1.

Is global steel giant ArcelorMittal diversifying into the energy sector, especially oil and gas? Asked this question, Mr Aditya Mittal, the Chief Financial Officer of the company said: "India is an energy-deficient country and we are already working with the Government.' The London-based, ArcelorMittal has 27 manufacturing plants across the globe. China and India figure prominently in the company's global business strategy, he said, not explaining the diversification into the energy sector. Speaking on

Chinese conglomerate Xinxing Group, along with its partners, will invest Rs 8,735 crore to set up a pellet and steel manufacturing facilities in Karnataka in two phases. The $11 billion group along with Chinese and Indian partners has forged a joint venture, XINDIA Steels Ltd, to set up a steel plant in Koppal district of Karnataka. In the first phase, XINDIA Steels will invest Rs 400 crore to set up a 2 million tonne per annum (MTPA) iron ore pellet plant in 300 acres. XINDIA has acquired a steel manufacturing company, Humpi Steels, where it will set up the plant. XINDIA is a joint venture among Xinxing Group, China Minmetals Corporation, Manasara Investments, Kelachandra Group and Sigma Minmet Ltd with Chinese firms

Rehab, clearances a bother in Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh. Tata Steel's greenfield projects in Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh have been delayed by about 12 to 16 months due to issues over land acquisition and resettlement, the company's executives said. The company plans to invest about Rs 90,000 crore in the three projects, which will have a total capacity of 23 million tonnes. Speaking to journalists today on the sidelines of Steelrise 2008, a three-day conference, the company's Chief Operating Officer H M Nerurkar said that all the projects were delayed. Construction work has not started on the first project, which was to go on stream in Kalinganagar (six million tonnes). About 400 families are yet to be re-settled for the project. Equipment costing about Rs 10,000 crore had already been ordered for the Kalinganagar plant, said Amit Chatterjee, advisor to Tata Steel Managing Director B Muthuraman. The project would be spared some cost overruns as the equipment was ordered some time back. Still, the equipment is expected to come this year and there could be penalties if it was not cleared in time from the ports. Nerurkar was optimistic about the construction work starting by March-end. In Orissa, the company is yet to get recommendation for iron ore mines for its project in the state. The state government was assessing the mines that Tata Steel already has there, Nerurukar said. The scenario is no better for the company's proposed five million tonnes plant in Chhattisgarh. According to Varun Jha, vice president, Chhattisgarh project, the first phase is planned to be commissioned by 2011 and the second phase by 2015. But the project has been delayed on account of litigation over mines. About two-thirds of the residents have accepted the compensation package. Investments would depend on when the project would start, Jha said. Addressing a seminar at the steel conference, Partha Sengupta, vice president (corporate services), Tata Steel, who is in charge of the Jharkhand project, pointed out that applications for land acquisitins were made a year and a half ago. However, the state government was yet to announce a rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) package, which was necessary for land acquisition, he said.

China-based Sinosteel today said it would set up its first integrated steel plant in Jharkhand and a cold forged rolls unit at Haldia in West Bengal. "We are in the mining, designing and equipment supply business and have participated in the construction of big steel plants in China. But, for the first time we are putting up an integrated steel plant,' Hongsen Wang, managing director of Sinosteel India, told reporters on the eve of the International Steel Seminar being organised by the Steel Scenario journal. Wang said Sinosteel has submitted the proposal to the government for setting up the steel plant in Jharkhand for which the company would invest $ 2 billion. "It will be a five-million-tonne plant, but in the first phase we will start with two million tonne,' he said, adding that 3,000 acres would be required for the project. He said the company has prepared a report for its plant which would come up between Silli and Chandil and was being vetted through MECON. Asked whether Sinosteel has tied up with a company for iron ore supply for its Jharkhand plant, Wang said, "We will try to get a captive mine and apply for the mining lease. We will, however, not wait for the captive mine. We will start construction as soon as we get the land.' On the cold forged rolls unit in West Bengal, he said 30 acres had been acquired, which would be set up at a cost of $ 25 million.

Himachal Pradesh would explore the possibilities of creating a Nanobiosys Technology Park in a joint venture, Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal said presiding over the 29th meeting of the state-level Single-window Clearance and Monitoring Committee held here today. The committee gave its clearance to 13 industrial-units involving an investment of Rs 973.82 crore and five expansion/revision proposals with an investment of Rs 692 crore potential for 4,414 persons. The approved units included Steel Authority of India and Ambuja Cements, besides many others. Addressing the meeting, the Chief Minister said the state would welcome investment in the latest technological advancements, which could ensure globally acceptable job guarantees to professionally qualified people of the state. He said the state had congenial environment for pollution-free industrial units and it fitted well for setting up of a Nanobiosys Technology Park. He said the state had already decided to create an IT Park in the state so that the global players were invited to open their outlets in the state.

Speciality steel-maker Bharat Forge on Thursday announced its decision to set up a one-million-tonne integrated steel unit in West Bengal. It is also in talks with the State Government for setting up a manufacturing hub here on the lines of the one proposed in Maharashtra. The steel unit, which would make high-grade steel for the engineering and the automobile sector, would also have a 500 MW power plant along with some downstream units. While the main unit would be set up by Kalyani Steel, a group company, a forging unit might be set up by Bharat Forge, Amit B. Kalyani, Executive Director, Bharat Forge, said. Earlier, he signed a memorandum of understanding with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and the West Bengal Mineral Development and Trading Corporation (WBMDTC) towards setting up the steel unit, in the presence of State Industry Minister, Nirupam Sen. WBMDTC would help source coal for the project. Mr. Sen said that they were shown two sites for the project, one at Salboni near the Jindal project and another in Durgapur. Mr. Amit Kalyani said the detailed project report would be ready in 12 months. The Bharat Forge group is also planning to locate its eastern regional headquarters in Kolkata and efforts are now on to find about four acres close to the city.

Apart from Madhya Pradesh, investors from nine other states have shown keen interest in making investments in the state at the Jabalpur Investors Meet held recently. Thirty-six investors from nine other states have signed 41 Memoranda of Understanding to the tune of Rs 46337 crore. In all, 61 MoUs worth Rs 56829 crore were inked at Jabalpur Investors Meet. With proposals worth Rs 18150 crore, Delhi tops the list as far as amount is concerned while the industrial houses of West Bengal's capital Kolkata have topped in the number by signing 13 MoUs.

The Orissa Pollution Control Board (OPCB) on Monday issued a closure notice to Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL) for not making arrangements for the suitable disposal of solid waste. BPSL has been asked to stop all production till further orders, failing which stringent penal proceedings would be initiated against the company. BPSL currently produces 1.2 million tonnes of steel, which would subsequently be raised to 2.2 million tonnes through expansion drives.