Indians hail Arcelor-Mittal merger

"Call it the victory of Indian 'cologne' over European perfume," The Economic Times, the country's leading financial daily, said in a headline, in a reference to Arcelor Chief Executive Guy Dolle who once described Mittal's steel as cheap eau de cologne compared to Arcelor's fine perfume.

Arcelor's board on Sunday approved the company's merger with Mittal Steel after its chairman and CEO, Indian-born Lakshmi Mittal, raised his bid to euro 26 billion ($ 33 billion).

The new company will control 10 percent of the global steel market and will be three times as big as its nearest rival, Japan's Nippon Steel.

The CNBC-TV18 television station called Mittal "the Sultan of Steel," and the Times of India displayed a picture of him wearing a gladiator's helmet.

The news of the merger was in the frontpage for most Indian newspapers - which would otherwise care little for a corporate merger in Europe.

Although born in India, Mittal has no operations in his native country. His company is headquartered in the Netherlands, with plants spread over 14 countries - from Trinidad and Tobago to Kazakhstan. The steel magnate lives in London.

But Mittal is a symbol of success here, and a source of inspiration for many Indian entrepreneurs with global ambitions.

Top Indian business and government officials were ecstatic.

"We are happy and proud that an Indian-born entrepreneur is the biggest steel maker in the world," Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told The Economic Times.