JOIN USMinister for Heavy and Medium Industries R V Deshpande said on Saturday that steel major Arcelor Mittal had been told to send a proposal for setting up an alternative industry in the district.
This is due to the Supreme Court direction that only companies already having steel plants could take part in the ore auction process.
He was speaking to reporters after the Ballari industry summit at Malpangudi in the taluk.
The minister said the company had planned to set up a solar power plant. The matter would be discussed at the meeting of the high-level clearance committee, he said. The company had been advised to set up an industry that has more employment opportunities, Deshpande said.
Arcelor Mittal had been sanctioned 4,800 acres near Ballari for a steel plant at the Global Investors Meet in 2010. Of this, the firm had been handed over 2,796 acres.