Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal meets Mamata at her residence

Kolkata: Steel baron Lakshmi Niwas Mittal met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence on Saturday.

The head of global steel giant ArcelorMittal's visit is believed to be in response to Banerjee meeting him in London last month. It is learnt that Banerjee had invited the billionaire industrialist to attend the Bengal Global Business Summit to be held in January 2018 at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre. The Chief Minister, in her recent trip to London, in the middle of November had met the steel tycoon along with top businessmen from the state for unveiling a commemorative blue plaque at Sister Nivedita's family home.

Mittal, who hails from Kolkata, where his father M L Mittal had set up a steel business, completed his graduation from St Xavier's College (now an University) and topped in Commerce in 1969. He left for Indonesia in 1976 to set up his first venture.

In July, Mittal had come to his home city to inaugurate The Lakshmi & Usha Mittal Foundation Building, a new academic block at St Xavier's. ArcelorMittal has a Design and Engineering Centre in Kolkata inside the city electronics hub at Salt Lake Sector V that provides design and consultancy services for steel firms.

Although no comments were available from either side, it is believed that Mittal, who was accompanied by his wife, was invited to attend the Global Bengal Business Summit in Kolkata in January, besides discussion on possible investment plans in the state.