Visa Steel Ltd said that it has acquired 280 acres for its 2.5 million tonne per annum, INR 8,000 crore integrated steel plant in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh.

Mr Vishal Agarwal MD of Visa Steel told Business Line that the company plans to acquire around 1,000 acres. It is buying land from the owners and also from the state government agency concerned.

Mr Agarwal said that the state government has identified some reserves which may be allotted to VSL. VSL needs iron ore deposits of around 100 million tonnes to secure the project. For coking coal linkages, VSL would bid in the next auction organised by the State.

Visa Steel, which imports metallurgical coal primarily from Australia, is also looking for coal assets overseas that are in early stages of development.

The Greenfield project got clearance from the ministry of environment and Forests early this year. The project will be set in two phases of 1.25 million tonnes per annum each, with 500 MW, coal fired captive power units.

It has obtained a share of 54 million tonnes in the thermal coal block in Orissa's Talchel district, being developed under the leader associate model by Bhushan Steel. The move is expected to reduce the company's import dependence.

(Sourced from Hindu)