Lakshmi Mittal, the chairperson of steel manufacturing corporation ArcelorMittal, on Wednesday announced that the corporation will build the world's single largest steel manufacturing site at Gujarat's Hazira by 2029. Mittal was addressing the ongoing Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) 2024 while making the announcement.
The steel baron said that the first phase of the steel manufacturing site will be completed by 2026 whereas the second phase, marked by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), will be completed by 2029. Once operational, the expanded manufacturing facility will produce around 24 million tonnes (MT) of steel, making it the world's largest steel manufacturing site.
"Hazira expansion was inaugurated by PM in 2021. Phase one will be completed by 2026, 2nd phase MoU signed, will be completed by 2029 and will produce 24 mn tonnes steel and it will become the world's biggest plant," Lakshmi Mittal said at the summit.
In October 2022, ArcelorMittal arm ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AMNS) India had announced an investment of around Rs 60,000 crore to scale up the capacity of the steel plant to 15 MT, company chairman Aditya Mittal told PTI at the time. The investment was for installation of new steel making technologies, setting up new-age machineries and increasing product mix.
The announcement came days after AMNS received environmental clearance for the plant's expansion. The Hazira steel plant expansion was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2021. In 2019, ArcelorMittal and Japan's Nippon Steel acquired the Essar Steel Limited plant located in Hazira and renamed it to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AMNS) India.
He added that the expansion of steel manufacturing site at Hazira is in alignment with India's commitment to industrial growth. Not only steel, the ArcelorMittal chairperson also said that the corporation is investing in the realms of renewable energy and green hydrogen.
Meanwhile, Lakshmi Mittal also recounted the last time he attended the summit and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brief for business and world leaders at the time. "I had come here in September last year for Vibrant Gujarat. PM Modi then briefed us on how this mega-global event has institutionalised structure on the basis of ideas, imagination and process continuity. The PM had then said that India's pride will increase with the theme of 'One Earth, One Family and One Future'."