Behold the story of India’s richest steel tycoon: Lakshmi Niwas Mittal

The visionary industrialist who changed the face of the Indian steel business.

Widely recognized as the king of steel, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal is currently the sixth richest person in India. According to Forbes real-time net worth check, Mittal’s net worth stood over Rs 1,440 billion. Lakshmi Mittal is currently based in the UK but retains Indian citizenship.

The beginning of a long journey

From being born in a middle-class family of Rajasthan, to being one of the richest persons in India, the life story of Lakshmi Mittal has been very influential. His father, Mohanlal Mittal was a partner in a small steel business based in Kolkata. After graduation from St Xaviers, Kolkata, he joined hands with his father’s business. In those times, India had heavy government intervention in the steel sector. Laxmi Mittal, then at the age of 26, started his first steel factory PT Ispat Indo in Indonesia, as the steel business could be operated smoothly and lucratively there. Eventually, it turned out to be a great success.

Towards becoming King

After a decade of success in Indonesia, the visionary industrialist went on acquiring several steel companies across the US, Europe, South Africa to create a global mark. His basic strategy was to acquire loss-making companies and make a turnaround. He formed Mittal Steel in 2004, after the merging of various companies which resulted in the company being the largest steelmaker by output in the world, the status which he still enjoys. In 2005, he became the third richest person in the world. In 2006, the company merged with France based Arcelor, a steel giant, to form ArcelorMittal which is listed on NYSE.

In January 2021, he relieved himself of the CEO position which he passed on to his son Aditya Mittal but remains executive chairman of ArcelorMittal.