News: India rejoices over Mittal's takeover of Arcelor

(RTR 26/06/2006) New Delhi - Indian-born steel baron Lakshmi Mittal's successful takeover bid of European steel firm Arcelor on Monday was hailed in the country of his birth as a sign of the rise of Indian business leaders on the global stage.

Ministers feted Mittal, businessmen said he had made them proud to be Indian while newspapers and TV stations went into a frenzy reporting the culmination of a five-month battle that had triggered charges of xenophobia against Mittal's opponents.

The rejoicing came a day after Arcelor bowed to an improved 25.6 billion euro ($32.2 billion) takeover bid from Mittal Steel to create a global giant three times larger than its nearest rival.

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram led the country's praise for the British resident.

"We are happy and proud that an Indian-born entrepreneur is the biggest steel maker in the world," Chidambaram was quoted as saying in the Economic Times newspaper.

Trade Minister Kamal Nath, a supporter of Mittal's bid, said the deal demonstrated the "intellectual and entrepreneurial abilities" of Indians and people of Indian origin.

"There's a new economic architecture and countries which have had a different mindset now have to face this, that in the new global architecture, India is going to be a major player," Nath told Times Now TV channel.

Mittal's bid for Luxembourg-based Arcelor had faced stiff opposition from several European governments, including Luxembourg and France, which had initially vowed to fight what they said was a hostile takeover attempt.

Indian business leaders had called the European reaction xenophobic.

Mittal, the world's third-richest person, was born in a village without electricity in the western state of Rajasthan.

He began working in his father's small steel mill in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, then known as Calcutta.

Mittal later left India and made his fortune by transforming ailing steel mills around the globe into money spinners. Mittal Steel has no business interests in India yet but it has proposed a $9 billion plant in the east of the country.

Newspapers splashed Mittal's victory across their front pages on Monday. "Mittal Gets What He Wanted", the Times of India said above a morphed image of Mittal wearing a viking's helmet made of steel.

'Indian industry is extremely happy that Mr Mittal has emerged as a global name in such a brief time. We are also proud that one of our members is a world leader," said D S Rawat, secretary-general of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

"Mittal's takeover of Arcelor will have spin-off benefits for India and help in the acceptability of Indian firms and products on the world stage," he said.