ArcelorMittal acquires first pieces of land for Jharkhand project

Steel major ArcelorMittal's 12-million tonne steel project in Jharkhand came a step closer to implementation on Saturday with the company formally acquiring its first piece of land for the project, at Armo village in Kasmar Block, about 25 km from the state capital Ranchi.

Steel baron L N Mittal, after facing initial problems, acquired the land as the landowners signed the transfer deed at Tenughat registrar office. Mittal, on the first day of the land registration process, acquired about 2.32 acres of land from three landowners.

Though the acquired land is quite small, the company appears to be in an upbeat mood as this will turn out to be the first major step for the project. The company reportedly has been successful in getting 'ekrarnama' (binding MoU) done for an additional 560 acres, which, after formal paperwork and registry, will come into the company's possession, providing it with a strong footing to kick-start the greenfield project, for which it needs 2,500 acres of land.

It is seen as a huge success for ArcelorMittal general manager P S Prasad and his team, whose efforts finally resulted in the company acquiring land.

Meanwhile, the villagers are jubilant that their land would be used by the world's largest steel producing company to set up a plant there and help bring development to the area.

Dashram Karmali is the first villager who offered his 0.5 acres of land to Mittal. After him, Jagdam Karmali registered his 1.40 acres of land, followed Sugiya Devi, a widow, who transferred her 0.42 acres land to the company. Prasad who was present with company officials Sanjay Sukla, Kumar Kashyap and others handed over cheques and packets of sweets and gifts to landowners.