Washington — Indian conglomerate Essar Group plans to invest as much as $18 billion in a major U.S. steel project linking an iron ore mine in Minnesota with a proposed steel plant in southeastern Iowa, company executives announced at the White House.
Rewant Ruia, a member of the Essar founding family, described the investment as a homecoming, noting that he spent much of his education in the United States.
“While I was born in India, I went to high school in New York, college in Boston, and did my MBA in California. I spent half my life here so announcing this investment today is a great honor and a true homecoming for me,” Ruia said.
President Donald Trump said the proposed Iowa facility would eventually produce 10 million tons of steel annually using iron ore supplied from Minnesota. He described it as the largest steel plant in U.S. history.
Trump said the project could create as many as 6,000 construction jobs and nearly 2,000 manufacturing and mining jobs. Steel production has not yet begun, and the employment figures remain projections.
Essar Group founder Ravi Ruia said the family’s total planned investment would be about $18 billion. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick provided a slightly different estimate, describing a $2.5 billion mining project and a $15 billion steel plant, for a total of $17.5 billion.
Rewant Ruia separately said the family planned to invest $3 billion in the Minnesota mine. The differences in the figures were not explained during the event.
Ravi Ruia said he and his brother Shashi built Essar over several decades through investments in steel, refining, ports, power and other industries around the world.
“We have now chosen to build our next major chapter here in America,” he said.
The planned project would connect Minnesota’s Iron Range with the proposed Iowa steel complex through U.S. rail and energy infrastructure. Rewant Ruia said the investment would mark a significant expansion of the family’s business presence in the United States.
“This project writes the next chapter for our company and our family,” he said.
Questions were also raised about government support for the project. Lutnick said the U.S. Export-Import Bank had helped finance the Minnesota mining operation, while private investment would fund construction of the steel plant.
The White House event did not provide detailed financing terms or a construction schedule for the Iowa facility.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds welcomed the proposed investment, saying negotiations had been challenging but that the project could create significant opportunities for workers and local businesses. She said Iowa companies should have opportunities to work with Mesabi Metallics, the company associated with the mining operation.
Trump said construction employment could begin almost immediately.
Minnesota’s Iron Range has supplied iron ore to the U.S. steel industry for more than a century, while steel plants throughout the Midwest have traditionally processed raw materials for use in manufacturing, construction and other industries.
A steel complex of the proposed size would require extensive construction, equipment installation and commissioning before reaching full production capacity. (Source: IANS)
