Emphasising that the worst is over for the global steel industry, ArcelorMittal chief LN Mittal on Friday said that he sees “pre-recession” demand to resurface in the next 2-3 years.

The NRI billionaire also asserted that the steel maker is bullish on India plans and committed to the investments there.

“For (the) pre-recession demand to come back, I give 2-3 years...Everyone believes and we also believe that the decline has stopped.

“The worst is behind us and the question which we are asking ourselves is what is going to be the shape of recovery,” Mittal, who is the Chairman and CEO of the world’s largest steel company, told CNBC TV18 in an interview.

ArcelorMittal is committed to its proposed Rs 1-lakh crore investment in India, to set up two 12-million tonnes per annum steel mills in the state of Jharkhand and Orissa.

“I am very optimistic about India. I am in fact bullish about India. We are committed to India, we will invest in India for our steel companies,” Mittal noted.

The company had earlier this year said the commercial operations of its proposed steel plants would be delayed by at least two years to 2014.

Earlier this year, ArcelorMittal had said the firm would go slow on its greenfield expansion, mergers and acquisition plans in the wake of the prevailing economic scenario.