NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has suffered a $50 billion decline in the value of shares he holds in the ArcelorMittal following the global financial meltdown, a leading economic daily has claimed.

Mittal, who owns 45 per cent of the stock in ArcelorMittal, has seen the value of his personal shareholding fall since late June from $66 billion to $16 billion, the Financial Times claimed in an analysis of the effect of global financial crisis on the steel industry.

"When Mittal talks to investors and analysts next week, he is likely to come in for tough questioning about how much he will cut production in the next few months.

"He will also be asked to explain the status of the company's expansion programme, in particular two big plants being planned for India, which look likely to be scaled back," the report said.

Noting that Mittal, chairman and chief executive of ArcelorMittal, next week faces the biggest test of his career, the report said, "The Indian metals magnate will try to convince investors that his vision of the steel industry still has merit, in spite of the battering the sector has received amid the global financial crisis."

When he presents the third-quarter results of ArcelorMittal on Wednesday from the company's imposing headquarters in the centre of Luxembourg, Mittal will do his best to put a "brave face on a 72 per cent decline in the share price of the world's biggest steelmaker over the past four months."