Did the Tatas seek any help from the Indian political leadership to secure Corus?
We didn’t seek any support from the political leadership. The Mittal bid from Arcelor faced some resistance from the political leadership of France and Luxembourg. In our case there was no opposition from any political quarter. In fact, when we met some of the British MPs, they were quite supportive of our candidature. In fact, when we spoke to the British government, they were very pleased that Corus remains within the group of Commonwealth nations and not Brazil or any other country. When did you start talking to Corus? It is almost a year since we started talking. It was even before the Arcelor-Mittal deal. When we started talking to Corus, we found a human chemistry and very similar operating cultures. It wouldn’t have worked otherwise. Have you at any point of time, talked to Benjamin Steinbruch of CSN, your rival for Corus? Yes. In recent times we have touched base on a couple of occasions. But it was done very peripherally, without trying to bring Corus into the picture. Did the
