L N Mittal and Mittal Steel’s bonhomie with the Jharkhand Government is on the wane. With Tata Steel promising to invest around Rs 53,000 crore in Jharkhand alone, the Arjun Munda Government is not very keen anymore to play the gracious host to the Mittals.

The government has already started to object on some of the conditions that the Mittals have laid down for investing in the state, the primary condition being that the Mittals would export 50 percent of the iron ore extracted from the state to their mills abroad. Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda was quite categorical a couple of days back in Ranchi when he said, ”We will not allow any company to take the iron ore abroad.

Companies, which have their interests internationally can use the ore here in the state for value addition services.“A couple of months back, Tata Steel managing director B Muthuraman had criticised the Mittals’ style of functioning. However, he was quick enough to retract his statements.

As far as the Chiria Mines in Jharkhand is concerned, Tata Steel has an edge also over the Mittals. The Chiria Mines, which have a very rich iron ore content of 62 to 65 percent, has eight blocks leased to the Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO), a subsidiary of SAIL.

However, for the remainder of the blocks Tata Steel is definitely in a better position to grab the lease as they have promised quite a few sops to the Munda Government. The Mittals on the other hand have been categorical that a portion of the Chiria Mines be leased out to them.