Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has begun a tour of Japan in an effort to fulfill his ambitious objectives pertaining to industry and investment. A major highlight of the trip was the meeting between the CM and Nippon Steel President Eiji Hashimoto in Tokyo to discuss a proposed joint venture between Nippon Steel and ArcelorMittal. The proposed plant is projected to have an annual capacity of 30 million tonnes and will produce speciality steel.

AM/NS India, the joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Odisha government in March 2021 to set up a 12 million tonne per annum integrated steel plant in Kendrapara at an estimated investment of Rs 50,000 crore. Odisha also approved in December a proposal by AM/NS India to set up a 7 MTPA steel plant in Jagatsinghpur with an investment of Rs 38,000 crore. With a number of industrial projects in the pipeline, it is expected to a huge boost to socio-economic development and job creation in Odisha.

Furthermore, Nippon Steel is set up to build one of the world’s largest steel plants in Odisha. Chief Minister Patnaik during the meeting assured complete support for the plant as it will purportedly benefit five districts in Odisha, which are Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Keonjhar and Kendrapara.

Apart from the ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel joint venture, CM Patnaik is set to hold one-on-one meetings with representatives of other Japanese companies on the tour. In addition to this, Odisha will be hosting Odisha Business Meet 2023, an event that will be attended by over 200 industrialists and investors from Japan and the Indo-Pacific region.

Nippon Steel is a large integrated steel manufacturing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1901, it has since then grown to become the world’s largest steel producer and one of the most formidable manufacturers in the world. Nippon Steel has plants based in overseas countries like China, South Korea and India, and exports its products to over 50 countries.

Eiji Hashimoto is the current president of Nippon Steel. He joined Nippon Steel in 1981 and has had a distinguished career in the steel industry, leading various departments and divisions as it became one of the most powerful steelmakers in the world. Hashimoto has also been involved in a number of social initiatives, including the Global Warming Prevention Act.