State mining secretary S.K. Sathpathy told the Hindustan Times that the Mittal officials have been given "toposheets" of the probable areas. "It is now up to them to select the mines according to their requirements. It may not be Chiria as we are bound by law and cannot offer it. However, we have marked enough reserves from which they can choose," he added. "It's just not the Mittals alone. We are equally serious about Tata Steel's 12 MT plant. We have been told that a Mittal delegation would visit the state on July 17 to review the progress of the project," Sathpathy said. "The map given to the Mittal group suggests several alternate mines such as Ankua, an extension of Chiria with equally rich deposits of iron ore. Mittal is likely to apply for a formal lease by July 20," Sathpathy added.

According to him, the Jharkhand government had discussed the project with Mittal officials on July 7 around the same time the group was negotiating a similar deal with Orissa. The Mittal Group had sought a letter of comfort from the state government ensuring 400 million tonnes of iron ore for the next 30 years to be followed by a reserve of another 200 million tonnes for 20 years thereon. Sources told the HT that L.N. Mittal has ordered the formation of a working group to evaluate options both in Jharkhand and Orissa.

"The working group will consider the possibility of a single 12-million-tonne steel project to be set up in two phases of six million tonnes each as well as the prospect of two smaller plants in both states," Mittal officials said.