AMNS India, the joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, kicked off the second phase of their growth in India by breaking ground on a Rs 60,000-crore project which will take the installed capacity of its Hazira, Gujarat plant to 15 million tonnes (mt) from 9mt.

The milestone comes three years after AM in partnership with Nippon of Japan acquired Essar Steel from an insolvency court and turned around the plant. The latest phase of expansion is expected to be completed by early 2026.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the bhumi pujan ceremony at Hazira virtually in the presence of ArcelorMittal chairman Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, his son Aditya, who is the chairman of AMNS India and CEO of ArcelorMittal, and poll-bound Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel. Senior officials of Nippon Steel joined the event virtually from Japan.

“I can remember very clearly the moment when we acquired this incredible facility nearly three years ago. We have invested almost Rs 90,000 crore and have made tremendous progress across many dimensions ensuring the facility is world class operating safely at full capacity and producing even more quality products,” Aditya Mittal said. He was with his wife Megha, mother Usha and his two daughters.

He later claimed AMNS will bring steelmaking technology that did not exist in India but did not elaborate further. “We are going to make products in India that have never been made in the country,” Mittal said.

He offered a glimpse of the products the steel mill would churn: the bullet train that will run from Mumbai to Ahmedabad will have a high quality steel from AMNS India.

The focus of the company would be to expand the specialty steel portfolio, Mittal said. The focus would be on segments such as automotive, transportation and renewables harnessing the power of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel’s R&D capabilities on a global basis, he said.

L.N. Mittal, who spoke after Aditya, said there would be 60,000 jobs — direct and indirect — created from this project. “The new incentive scheme of the Gujarat government will lend support to our project. We will be investing Rs 60,000 crore and that is just for this phase. Going forward, there are plans for big investment,” he said.

Prime Minister Modi said the expansion project is in line with the government of India’s plan to double steel making capacity within the next decade.

AMNS’s expansion adds to the list of high-profile industrial projects being announced in Gujarat where the dates of the impending Assembly election will be notified shortly. Vedanta and Taiwan’s Foxconn have announced a chip-making factory, while Tatas said they would home a military aircraft manufacturing unit in partnership with Airbus in Gujarat.

Gujarat plan

■ Work starts on Rs 60,000cr expansion project

■ Capacity at Hazira to go up to 15mt from 9mt

■ Expansion to be over by 2026

■ Proposed bullet train will use AMNS steel

■ Project to create 60,000 direct jobs