Washington, September 29, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India-born businessman Rewant Ruia on Tuesday described Essar Group’s proposed steel investment in the US as a “true homecoming” as his family joined US President Donald Trump at the White House to announce plans for a major steel complex in Iowa.
The proposed project will link an iron ore mine in Minnesota with a steel manufacturing complex in southeastern Iowa. Essar Group founder Ravi Ruia put the overall investment at about $18 billion during the White House event.
However, officials cited different figures. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the project involved a $2.5 billion mine and a $15 billion steel plant, taking the total to $17.5 billion. Rewant Ruia said the family would invest $3 billion in the Minnesota mine. No explanation was provided for the differences between the estimates.
Trump said the Iowa plant would eventually produce 10 million tonnes of steel annually using iron ore from Minnesota. He estimated that the project could generate up to 6,000 construction jobs and nearly 2,000 manufacturing and mining jobs.
Rewant Ruia said the project marked an important new chapter for the family business.
“While I was born in India, I went to high school in New York, college in Boston, and did my MBA in California. I spent half my life here so announcing this investment today is a great honor and a true homecoming for me,” he said.
Ravi Ruia said he and his brother Shashi had built Essar into a diversified group with steel plants, refineries, ports and power facilities, adding that the family had now chosen to build its next major chapter in the US.
The proposed Minnesota mine is expected to supply the Iowa plant, with US railways and energy infrastructure forming part of the supply chain.
Questions were also raised about government support for the project. Lutnick said the Export-Import Bank had helped finance the mine, while private investment would fund the steel plant. He described the agreement as completed, although financing terms and a construction schedule for the steel mill were not provided.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds welcomed the project, saying negotiations had been difficult but that it could create jobs and opportunities for local suppliers. She said Iowa businesses should have opportunities to work with Mesabi Metallics, the company named by Trump in announcing the project.
Trump described the proposed Iowa facility as the largest steel plant in US history and said construction jobs would begin soon.
The project would connect Minnesota’s Iron Range, which has a more than century-long history of iron ore production, with the Midwest’s steel manufacturing base.
The investment, production and employment figures announced at the White House are projections. The proposed facility would require years of construction, equipment installation and commissioning before reaching its planned annual output.
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