After getting a green signal from the people of 2 villages of Keonjhar district, World’s largest integrated metals and mining company ArcelorMittal has started the process of land acquisition for its 12 million tonnes per annum steel plant in Orissa.

The company now hopes to take the possession of the required land by the end of this year.

ArcelorMittal CEO, India, Vijay Bhatnagar said, “We are hopeful of taking physical possession of the land by the end of the current year to start construction for the greenfield steel project. The pre-land acquisition process has already been successfully initiated.”

Bhatnagar said that as a part of pre-land acquisition process the response of the local residents was positive during the first Gram Sabha held on August 6. He said that in the presence of district authorities the villagers showed willingness to move ahead with the process. The company requires nearly 7,750 acres of land for the Rs 40,000 crore project in the state.

However, he maintained that in the gram sabha conducted at Raikala, the villagers raised several questions, submitted a charter of demands and sought more clarification before signing the resolution supporting the project.

"We have noted the villagers' concerns and would make all efforts to address the same. The entire process was aimed at ensuring transparency”, said Bhatnagar.