Hostility to Arcelor bid may be precursor to other bids by Indian businesses: Mittal

New Delhi: Mittal Steel chairman and CEO L N Mittal has said that opposition to his bid for Arcelor, if not checked immediately, could become a precedent and affect the Indian business community''s ability to make similar deals overseas in the future.

He therefor expected prime minister Manmohan Singh to take up the Arcelor issue of the proposed buyout with president Jacques Chirac of France during their meeting since it involved the future of Indian businesses globally The shareholders of Mittal Steel and Arcelor SA would benefit by Rs36,000 crore in terms of increase in share prices of the two companies. His bid for Arcelor, he reiterated, was in the interest of the steel industry world-wide as the merged entity would make a profitable global steel company and thjerfore expected backing from the European company''s shareholders

He said he had discussed the deal with Arcelor top boss who had shown interest in the beginning but later backed out.

Mittal expressed his gratitude to Indian ministers and industrialists who had supported him against the racial attacks on him in his take-over bid for Arcelor. He, said that the toning down of opposition to his bid in Luxembourg and Belgium was a positive sign.