Mittal vs Jindal: The fight for India’s steel crown

Why read this story?

Editor's note: In the heat and dust of India’s steel plants running at full tilt amid a bull run in prices, an anticipation is building of a fight as hot as the molten metal. It’s a tussle in a market that is already the second largest in the world, and is expected to grow by nearly three times in the next 10 years. At stake is one crown. In the fray are two entrepreneurs and their legacies.   On one side is Sajjan Jindal, chairman and managing director of JSW Steel, who finally seems to have opened up a decisive lead over Tata Steel to go atop the Indian steel industry leader board. After the acquisition of Bhushan Power and Steel in March, JSW Steel now has an annual capacity of 23 million tonnes. Tata Steel is at 20 million tonnes. There are reasons to believe that this lead will only increase.  On the other side is the challenger, Aditya Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel producer. After years of attempts by his father Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, the company finally has …