Bhubaneswar, June 27: Two global steel majors — ArcelorMittal and Posco — today expressed their concern over delay in land acquisition and raw material linkages for greenfield projects in India.

Sanak Mishra, the ArcelorMittal country CEO for greenfield projects, said India, the seventh largest crude steel producer in the world, was going to be the global leader, only next to China.

“However, the major challenges faced by most of the greenfield steel projects are land acquisition, raw material linkage and harnessing water resources,” said Mishra. “If these issues are handled carefully, the projects can proceed smoothly.”

ArcelorMittal is to set up two greenfield steel plants in Orissa and Jharkhand with a capacity of 12MT each.

Speaking at an international seminar on the global steel industry here today, Mishra said India’s steel production was expected to reach 100 million tonnes (MT) by 2012 and cross the 200MT mark by 2020.

Greenfield steel plant projects alone were expected to produce 50MT steel by 2012, but land acquistion problems had to be sorted out on a war footing. While the detailed project report for the Orissa project was ready, other groundwork was also underway. But the land acquisition process was yet to start.

The project has hit a roadblock with the displaced families launching an agitation under the banner of Mittal Pratirodh Manch resisting land on the ground that most of it was agricultural land.

Similarly, the controversy over allotment of Chiria iron ore mines has halted the Jharkhand project.

Echoing Mishra, Posco India chairman and managing director Soung Sik Cho said most of the greenfield projects in India, especially in Orissa, have not made any substantial progress. Posco zeroed in on a site near Paradip to set up its 12MT plant but the project has remained a non-starter as the government failed acquire land because of sustained local resistance.

The state government had also offered to lease out the Khandhadhar iron one mines to Posco, but the matter got embroiled in legal tangle. “Only a win-win relationship can bear fruit. On one hand, companies should be committed to the welfare of the people and on the other, people should realise the benefits of industrialisation,” said Cho.