"We have not closed our plan in Jharkhand," sources close to Mittal said. The state appeared to have lost out to adjacent Orissa, which in December 2006 signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mittals for a 12 million tonne integrated steel project.

More than a year before the MoU with Orissa, Mittal had signed a MoU with Jharkhand in October 2005 to set up a plant in the state taking advantage of the vast iron ore reserves at Chiria.

But since no follow-up action was taken by the Jharkhand government, the project remained a paper dream while Orissa is expected to take a call on Mittal project sometime this year.

However, the sources said Mittal's concerns over quick action by the Orissa government remain as it was evident in the case of acquisition of land and allowing of mining of iron ore for a proposed plant of South Korean steel magnate Posco.

These important issues need to be addressed with urgency because these are important issues to foreign investors as delay in implementation would result in cost overrun and improper demand and market projections, said the sources.

Besides, other parts of the world are also offering opportunities and so there should be no delay, the sources said.

For instance, if a steel project is to be set up in India by 2011 or 2014, the timetable should be strictly adhered to because a company makes projection of demand accordingly and that the demand for steel is cyclical, they sources.

Industry sources said Mittal steel is keen on an anticipated demand boom in steel in view of the Commonwealth Games to be held in India in 2011 and the infrastructure required for the event.