Pollution costs local communities' health and livelihoods According to a public hearing held in Hazira in September 2021, tribal and rural populations living near the plant have experienced high rates of lung related illness from air pollution, and high rates of cancer from water pollution, caused by the processing and burning of coal in iron & steel production. The Hazira steel plant has been found non-compliant with national water pollution regulation. As a result the fish population has decreased, and has become dangerous to eat. 

Displacement of tribal and rural communities In December 2021, a local Hazira-based NGO filed a memorandum to the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, stating that people from around 70 villages had to move to Surat city to escape pollution from the plant, and find different livelihoods. At a public hearing in September 2021, several residents stated that AM/NS India’s expansion of the plant encroached on local farmland, severely diminishing yields. Construction to expand the plant has also blocked a major road which connects villages to an important Hindu temple, leaving many without access to their place of worship. 

Green steel for Europe, coal for India A 2023 report by IEEFA showed that ArcelorMittal has a “two-speed” decarbonisation approach where cleaner steel plants are being built in Europe and Canada, and high-polluting coal-based blast furnaces are being built in India. There is already an inequitable distribution of pollution between the global north and the global south, and by developing its coal-based portfolio in India, ArcelorMittal is making this problem worse. 

Greenwashing while accelerating climate change AM/NS India has positioned the expansion as a means of decarbonising its operations by emphasising its plans to switch 20% of the plant’s energy system to wind, solar and hydro. Although this will reduce carbon emissions by 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year, adding two additional blast furnaces will increase the plant’s carbon emissions by 12 million tonnes of CO2 per year, making the mitigation negligible. Adding an additional 12 million tonnes of CO2 to its current yearly emissions rate of 8.7 million tonnes would make Hazira the 4th largest polluter in India, a large jump from its current ranking as the 33rd. 

Increasing India’s reliance on coal Coal-based blast furnaces for steelmaking have a lifespan of around 20 years. Building new blast furnaces that will come online in 2025 and 2026 will therefore lock India into coal-based steel production until at least 2045. To remain under 1.5C, no new blast furances without 90% CCS can be built past 2025, and CCS has not yet been proven effective at scale for steelmakers, and its track record in other sectors is not promising. At the national level, India has recognised a need to cap blast furnace-based steel production (which uses coal), so it only accounts for 60-65% of total steel production by 2030. However if AM/NS India expands its plant, India will grow more reliant on coal to grow its economy, and risks overshooting its climate targets. This is irresponsible, as green-hydrogen based steelmaking technologies are significantly less polluting, and cost competitive for India. 

Illegal deforestation Since acquiring Essar in 2019, AM/NS India has illegally encroached on 93.76 hectares of land - equivalent to 175 football fields. Local politicians have reported that AM/NS has cleared at least 38 hectares of forest, built roads, and begun industrial construction in residential areas prior to receiving environmental clearance, meaning sufficient environmental evaluation has not been carried out. 

Large scale water pollution In February 2022, a public litigation interest was taken out against AM/NS India for the illegal dumping of industrial waste in the Tapi River. In the last 5 years, the state’s high court had issued at least four warnings to AM/NS for illegal dumping. The discharge of acids and heavy metals is causing large-scale water pollution harming fish breeding, and livelihoods for the rural and tribal populations depending on the river for irrigation and fishing. As of July 2022, a commissioner has been appointed to investigate.

Increased risk of new diseases Clearing trees for the expansion of the plant is increasing the risk of a new infectious disease outbreak, as deforestation increases contact between humans and wildlife. India’s bat population in particular has been identified as a high risk source for a future infectious disease outbreak.