New Delhi: An Indian industrial family is building America’s largest steel plant in Iowa, US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday. The investment by Essar Group’s US subsidiary Mesabi Metallics, the conglomerate controlled by the Ruia family, includes about $15 billion for the proposed Iowa steel complex.
It also includes about USD 3 billion investment in an iron ore mine and pelletizing facility in Minnesota. Trump called it the “largest steel plant in American history”, and credited his 50 percent tariffs on imported steel with encouraging companies to manufacture inside the United States.
He made the announcement in the White House along with Mesabi Metallics chairman Rewant Ruia, who called it a “true homecoming” for him.
“While I was born in India, I went to high school in New York, college in Boston and did my MBA in California. I have spent half my life here. So, announcing this investment today is..a true homecoming for me,” he said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and John Jovanovic, the chairman of the US Export-Import Bank, were also present. “Everyone is building their plants here because they don’t want to pay tariffs,” Trump said. “It’s really not that complicated.”
When fully operational, the Iowa plant is expected to produce 10 million metric tons of steel a year, with production targeted to begin around 2030. The company says the project will create more than 8,000 construction jobs and at least 1,750 permanent positions once the plant is operating, while also supporting employment among suppliers and other businesses across the midwest.
Mesabi Metallics, Essar’s American subsidiary, is developing the iron-ore mine and pelletizing facility on Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range.
Rewant Ruia, the son of Essar Group founder and vice chairman Ravi Ruia, has taken a prominent role in the company’s American mining and steel expansion.
The company describes the Minnesota project as the first new iron-ore mine built in the United States in 50 years. Nearly $3 billion has been invested so far, according to the company.
A landmark day for Essar and Mesabi Metallics
At the White House today, President Donald J. Trump announced Essar-backed Mesabi Metallics' $18 billion investment to create a fully integrated American steel company, in the presence of Ravi Ruia, Vice Chairman & Founder, Essar… pic.twitter.com/yDWOWFa1Bl
— Essar (@Essar) September 29, 2026
Located in Nashwauk, the mine is expected to produce what Mesabi calls “Patriot Pellet,” a direct-reduction-grade iron-ore pellet designed for use in modern electric-arc-furnace steelmaking.
The ore will become the first link in the company’s planned mine-to-mill supply chain, traveling from Minnesota to the Iowa steel complex.
In Iowa, Mesabi Metallics plans to spend $15 billion constructing the new steel complex.
“This is a defining moment for American steel and a transformative milestone for Mesabi Metallics,” Rewant Ruia said. “We are building a fully integrated steel business from the ground-up, connecting Minnesota’s world-class iron ore resources with steelmaking in Iowa to produce 100% American steel.”
It describes the resulting product as “100% American steel” — mined, melted and poured in the United States.”
Ravi Ruia described the project as a continuation of Essar’s global expansion. He added that the investment reflected Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for a stronger India-US economic partnership.
Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, made the connection between tariffs, even more directly.
“So, these are your 232 tariffs, the steel tariffs at work. Without those tariffs, this mine and steel plant doesn’t get built,” Lutnick said at the event, referring to the trade measures imposed under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962. It allows the president to restrict imports, including through tariffs, when the Commerce Department determines that imports threaten US national security.
Lutnick said the Essar investment would reduce the United States’ reliance on imported steelmaking inputs, particularly iron-ore pellets.
The Minnesota project was part of the Ruia family’s wider Essar expansion. Ravi Ruia and his late elder brother Shashi founded the group in 1969. At its peak, Essar business spanned steel, oil, power, shipping, telecom, ports and retail.
In 2008, it broke ground outside Nashwauk, Minnesota, on a project billed as the region’s first steel mill. More than a decade later, after nearly $2 billion had been invested, the project remained less than half complete. Essar subsequently entered bankruptcy, and Mesabi Metallics took over the project.
After repeated delays, Essar filed for bankruptcy in 2016, shortly before Minnesota sought to take control and transfer the project to Cleveland-Cliffs. Mesabi ultimately won the bankruptcy auction, and the state awarded it mineral leases in 2018. Cliffs later acquired some mineral rights and is now in court with Mesabi over mining rights.
In 2019, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) moved to legally bar Essar Global from doing business in the state after more than a decade of missed deadlines and payments tied to its stalled effort to build a taconite iron-ore mine and processing plant on the Iron Range.
Essar then moved to reinvest by settling about $260 million in debt related to Mesabi. But DNR had begun proceedings to bar Essar from doing business in Minnesota. The agency said Essar still owed $64 million to Itasca County and Minnesota, failed to pay contractors, missed construction and production deadlines and ultimately drove the project into bankruptcy.
The restructured Minnesota operation, now Mesabi Metallics, then became the foundation of the family’s renewed US steel ambitions. Essar says it has invested more than $2.5 billion in the operation, described as Minnesota’s first new iron-ore mine in 50 years.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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