Will Mittal Steel India's Jharkhand project take off?

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Mittal Steel India says that its Jharkhand project has very good progress. But there are still some roadblocks that need to be cleared.

The company's CEO Sanak Mishra says that the mines issue is still a sticking point and they are negotiating with the Jharkhand government over this. He remains hopeful that the issue will get resolved.

Mishra says that looking at the potential for steel industry's growth in India, they have expanded their options and are not just looking at Jharkhand.

Excerpts from CNBC - TV18's exclusive interview with Sanak Mishra:

Q: How has the Jharkhand project progressed so far?

A: In certain ways, it's made very good progress. But in certain ways, there are some roadblocks that need to be cleared. We had appointed Hatch, an international engineering consulting firm to prepare a roadmap for the steel plant. That has been complete. So we have a very beautiful blueprint for a world-class steel plant. In our phase-I, we are going to make 6 million tonne steel plant. That blue print is ready. So that's a good progress.

The other thing is that we have already got a lot of critical personnel looking at various dimensions of the project. The areas where we still need to make progress is the mines issue. But we are still having a dialogue with the Jharkhand government. So very intensive interactions are going on and I think this will get resolved.

Q: Mr Mittal has gone on record saying that he is not very impressed with the way the project has gone and he is looking at alternative locations like Orissa. Comparatively, where does the Jharkhand project stand?

A: India now represents a potential for growth in steel industry like China has done in last 20 years. So we have expanded our options. Instead of just looking at Jharkhand, we are also looking at options in Orissa. We are going to pursue both the options.