The joint working group of SAIL and ArcelorMittal, set up to prepare a feasibility report for the proposed $1 billion joint venture of the two companies to produce automotive steel in the country, has completed a major part of its work. This was announced by the two companies after a high-level delegation met in London. The Indian side was represented by Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh, SAIL Chairman PK Singh, and other senior officials, while ArcelorMittal's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal and the group CFO Aditya Mittal represented the world's largest steel-maker. "The proposed JV will construct facilities for manufacturing automotive steel that will offer technologically advanced steel products for India's rapidly growing automotive sector. "The hot-rolled input products for the proposed facility would be supplied by SAIL's new hot strip mill in Rourkela, Odisha, thus making the entire value chain indigenous," the two companies said in a statement. India is forecast to become the world's third-largest automobile manufacturing nation by 2026, with passenger vehicles likely to grow from around three million units today to over seven million units in the next 10 years.