ArcelorMittal and the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up an automotive steel manufacturing facility under a Joint Venture arrangement in India. The MoU was signed in London by Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of Arcelor Mittal and C.S. Verma, Chairmal of SAIL. Mittal said that it is an exciting and powerful combination of their automotive technological capabilities and SAIL’s production scale in India. Mr. Rakesh Singh, Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Steel and Mr. Aditya Mittal, ArcelorMittal CFO and CEO ArcelorMittal Europe, were also present.
Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Rakesh Singh, Steel Secretary to the Government of India, said: “Increasing the availability of indigenously produced automotive steel would reduce India’s reliance on imports and provide the Indian steel industry and the automotive industry with a sustainable competitive advantage. India is expected to grow as a hub for automobile export manufacturing facilities to cater to the international market. This proposed collaboration between ArcelorMittal and SAIL is a positive and welcome step towards fulfilling the objectives of the ‘Make in India’ campaign launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.”
Mr. Mittal, Chairman and CEO, ArcelorMittal, said: “We have been in discussions with SAIL for some time and today’s signing signals our intention to further advance our collaboration. Bringing together our leading automotive technological capabilities with SAIL’s production scale in India, in a similar manner to ArcelorMittal’s partnership with Hunan Valin on our VAMA joint venture in China, is an exciting and powerful combination. The automotive sector is a highly strategic and important market for ArcelorMittal; establishing an automotive focussed production presence in India, one of the world’s fastest growing automotive markets, is a natural progression in executing our global automotive strategy.”
Mr. C.S. Verma, Chairman, SAIL, added: “SAIL is on the verge of completing a comprehensive modernisation and expansion program to increase its hot metal capacity from 14 million tons per annum (MTPA) to 23.5 MTPA, with a quantum jump in production of value added steels. Furthermore, we have drawn up a Vision 2025 plan to further increase capacity to 50 MTPA. Product enrichment is an integral part of this plan and the MoU with ArcelorMittal will pave the way for a new chapter in the indigenous production of high-quality automotive steel in India. It will also aid a broader effort by SAIL to help fulfil the high-quality steel requirements of the rapidly growing infrastructure and manufacturing sectors in India.”
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