IN BRIEF (Page 16)

ArcelorMittal slows plans

ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, may cut the size of a planned steel plant in India by half and indefinitely defer a second facility as the global recession curbs sales of cars and homes, a company official said.

An investment committee will meet this week in Luxembourg to discuss building a 3 million metric ton factory in eastern India for 75 billion rupees ($1.5 billion), said the official, declining to be identified as the plan is confidential. The company, which had planned two plants with a starting capacity of 6 million tons each, will defer the plan by at least two years to 2014 and may cut their sizes, Vijay Kumar Bhatnagar, chief executive officer of the India unit, said on April 15.