India’s Ministry of Steel will push for the proposed Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL)-ArcelorMittal joint venture to be located in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, a government official said on Tuesday, December 19.
The official said that, considering that the Indian government-owned SAIL will have the responsibility of providing land for the project, the ministry is already in talks with the government of Andhra Pradesh to offer SAIL the required land for the project.
The government’s earlier proposal of locating the project in the western state of Gujarat did not find favor and Andhra Pradesh is now considered as the most favored destination considering future growth in investments in automobile manufacturing in the region.
SAIL's board of directors earlier this month gave the go-ahead to the company to sign a non-binding agreement with ArcelorMittal for formation of a joint venture company for investing an estimated $1 billion in an automotive steel-producing steel mill in the country.