ArcelorMittal entry set to heat up India’s steel industry

Lakshmi Mittal. A third steel producer in ArcelorMittal, after Tata Steel Ltd and JSW Steel Ltd, with both financial heft and expertise, is expected to be good for the domestic steel market. Photo: Bloomberg

Lakshmi Mittal. A third steel producer in ArcelorMittal, after Tata Steel Ltd and JSW Steel Ltd, with both financial heft and expertise, is expected to be good for the domestic steel market. Photo: Bloomberg

MUMBAI: The entry of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, into the Indian market will force existing private sector players to increase efficiency and control costs, analysts say. A third steel producer, after Tata Steel Ltd and JSW Steel Ltd, with both financial heft and expertise, is expected to be good for the domestic market.

On Friday, lenders to bankrupt Essar Steel declared that the highest bid was from the joint venture (JV) of Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, promoted by Lakshmi Mittal, and Japan’s Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp. The joint venture had cleared off the ₹7,469 crore of outstanding dues of Uttam Galva and KSS Petron—the bankrupt companies connected to Mittal—and had tabled a resolution plan that offered ₹42,000 crore to buy out Essar Steel’s assets, which had accumulated debt of over ₹49,000 crore.

 

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Credit: livemint.com