Singur not a dampener for investments in India: Mittal

New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal
Wednesday ruled out reviewing Arcelor Mittal's plans for India
because of the ongoing Singur crisis and said a single
standoff like that does not make the country a less attractive
investment destination.

"One case of Singur cannot be an example for the world.
One can face this kind of problem in any other country. One
particular project can face this kind of opposition from
people. But the country as a whole is interested in growing,"
said Mittal.

"The Singur crisis does not take away India as an
investment destination. We are not going to revisit our plans
because of Singur," Mittal told reporters.

Elaborating about Arcelor Mittal's projects in India, he
said: "Our projects in Jharkhand and Orissa are facing 50
percent cost overruns due to delay in mining and other
approvals. The total cost of these projects may raise up to 30
billion dollars."

Mittal urged the Orissa and Jharkhand governments to
expedite approvals. "So far we are getting support from both
the governments. The issue is how fast we can execute and
implement, and how fast the governments can execute their
portion of responsibilities," he said.

Mittal's comments came close on the heels of India Inc's
negative reaction on the Singur case, including many companies
saying they will reconsider investments in West Bengal if the
situation does not improve soon.