The party says it will oppose the steel tycoon's Orissa steel plant bid, if he gets iron ore cheap from govt or tries to export ore.
NEW DELHI: Steel king Lakshmi Mittal may have won his battle for acquisition of Arcelor, but back home he may have to fight a war against the comrades. The CPI (M) has indicated that it would oppose Mittal's bid to set up a Rs40,000 crore steel plant in Orissa, if the government tried to give iron ore cheap to the Mittal group or allowed it to export ore.
Senior CPI(M) leader and politburo member Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said his party would demand a "comprehensive mineral policy". The matter will be taken up in Parliament during monsoon session.
The party fears that there was a move at the Centre to further liberalise the export of minerals, which it feels is against the country's interest as mineral deposits were exhaustible.
Asked about the proposed Mittal plant in Orissa, CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat, who was in Cuttack on Saturday, said, "We are definitely against the export of iron ore. Permission has been given to a host of domestic and steel companies to export iron ore, which does not add value to our mineral wealth.
This is going to be one of the major issues which we will take up in the near future."
The CPI(M) had last year opposed Korean steel plant POSCO fearing that it would take away iron ore from India. Karat said a sub-committee of Planning Commission had recommended further liberalisation of iron ore exports. "The CPI (M) would oppose this and would build public opinion against the export of minerals, particularly iron ore. China's steel production is approximately 10 times that of India. But it basically depends on imports from other countries, whereas the situation in India was the reverse."
Lakshmi Mittal had on Friday announced that his company was negotiating with Orissa to set up a 12 million tonne steel plant in the state in two phases at a total cost of Rs 40,000 crore, the second big-ticket investment in Orissa after South Korean steel maker Posco's $12 billion plant.
A memorandum of understanding is being signed soon with the Orissa government.
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