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ArcelorMittal’s Orissa plant to bank on the Brazilian experience

— Photo: Suresh Nambath

Helping hand: Children picked up from vulnerable sections and supported through a social project by ArcelorMittal at Vitoria in Brazil.

VITORIA (brazil): ArcelorMittal is planning to replicate in India its Brazilian model of investment in social projects and thereby ensure “positive interaction” with the local communities around its steel plants. The global steel giant, which has obtained in-principle approval for its 12-million tonne greenfield plant in Keonjhar district in Orissa, believes the model would work as India and Brazil are comparable in terms of socio-economic development.

The Orissa plant is expected to displace 3,000 families in 17 villages and ArcelorMittal is holding talks with the State government on resettlement issues.

Last year, ArcelorMittal Tubarao invested $7 million in the social field, seeking to strengthen its bonds with all stakeholders by improving the quality of life of the local population, especially in education. According to senior officials of the company, the management methodology of the steel plant’s social projects is being applied at various units in the ArcelorMittal group.

A group of Indian journalists, invited to Brazil by ArcelorMittal, were introduced to some of the social initiatives supported by the company. The Integrated Service to the Child and Adolescent (AICA) identifies socially vulnerable children and adolescents around the steel plant, and provides them educational, sporting and recreational activities. These activities cost less than State-supported initiatives in the same areas, but report greater success, according to an AICA representative.

A software system developed by ArcelorMittal Tubarao in partnership with a local company allows monitoring of the progress of the projects, the area of operations, the number of beneficiaries and the allocated and utilised budget. The system, described as an X-ray of social investments, was selected by the ArcelorMittal Foundation as its principal management tool in the area. It is now considered a benchmark for the company’s activities in the social responsibility sphere.

The ArcelorMittal Foundation applies common guidelines and selection criteria and shares experience across projects to spread best practices. Last year, the foundation supported 587 social projects totalling approximately $50 million. It also partners local and global NGOs.

Investments in environmental control when the Orissa plant comes up could also be on the basis of the Brazilian experience. ArcelorMittal will be attempting to better its own record in reusing industrial waste and reducing industrial consumption of fresh water. According to company literature, the mill’s waste is 99 per cent recycled for internal use or sold as raw material for a range of industrial applications. Fresh water is reused up to 97.2 per cent.

At ArcelorMittal Inox Brasil, all ecological practices are reviewed by experts from universities. The company actively participates in the reforestation of Brazil, according to its officials.

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ArcelorMittal’s Orissa plant to bank on the Brazilian experience

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