NMDC buys land for Rs 14,000 cr Chhattisgarh steel project

State-owned NMDC today said it has completed the acquisition of 1,948 acres of land required for its upcoming Rs 14,000 crore steel plant in Chhattisgarh.

"... The company has acquired a total of 1,948 acres of land in two phases required for the above project till date," the country's largest iron ore producer said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

NMDC had earlier this week completed the acquisition of 1,788 acres of land for its maiden steel venture at a gross investment of Rs 90 crore. It was awaiting the transfer of around 160 more acres of government land, out of which 63 acres fell in forest areas, which has now come through.

NMDC Chairman and Managing Director Rana Som said: "We have concluded the acquisition process in a record 10 months. This was possible as Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh led from the front. We carried the community along with us, instilled confidence in them for the plant."

The company is hopeful of starting construction work on the steel plant in the 2010 calender year. Land acquisition for the project, which was announced two years back, started in October, 2009.

Besides the central and state government's efforts, Som is learnt to have himself spearheaded the land acquisition process.

"The CMD was himself present in all the hearings of Gram Sabha. Apart from compensation, he has promised jobs to every individual. The community has been made to understand the importance of the project to change their lives," a senior official involved in the land acquisition process said.

Chhattisgarh is one of India's tribal-dominated states. As much as Rs 1.54 lakh crore worth of projects of global firms like ArcelorMittal and Posco in the states of Jharkhand and Orissa have been stalled for nearly five years now due to protests by the locals.