New Delhi, Sept. 11: Where will L.N. Mittal set up his first Indian plant — Orissa or Jharkhand ? Both states believe they will be the chosen one. “The memorandum of understanding (with the Mittals) will be signed after the company buys 3,000 acres of land,” Orissa’s minister for steel and mines Padmanabha Behara said on the sidelines of a metals and mining exhibition today. He expects the deal to be finalised by November.

Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of the world’s largest steelmaker, had said in July that he will build a 12-million-tonne-a-year plant in Orissa. The possible sites are Khallikot in Ganjam, Basudevpur in Bhadrak, Balgopalpur in Balasore and Patna in Keonjhar.

Again, Jharkhand state officials claim that the Mittal group has promised to set up a 10-mt steel plant in the state. They added that the company has shortlisted three sites — Saraikela, Galudi and Torpa — and a final decision on this would be taken soon.

Mittal Steel (India) CEO Sanak Mishra said today his group’s desire “to be here (in India) is considerable. It will take a lot of hard work from both the government and the states on our project”.

Mining analysts believe the Mittals will set up plants in both states after tying up captive iron ore mines in these ore-rich states. Most steel investors have been signing up agreements with states with rich deposits and using the planned investment to leverage the best mining deals.