Ludhiana-based Vallabh Steel Limited (VSL) was keen to set up a mini steel plant in Jharkhand.
VSL executive director Vikaram Jain and president (project) R K Agarwal met the Seraikela-Kharsawan district deputy commissioner and submitted a formal application seeking a 60-acre plot on the Kandra-Khunti state highway to set up the mini steel plant.
VSL would invest Rs 80-100 crore in the first phase of the project. Initially planned in the Adityapur Industrial Area Development Authority (AIADA) area, the project has been shifted to the Kandra-Khunti state highway owing to proximity to Kandra railway station offering cheaper transport costs for raw materials as well as finished products.
Three types of land were available in the area, owned by the state government, or non-Adivasi rayati land or Adivasi rayati land. The Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act, a legislation of the British era to protect tribal lands, bans any transfer of tribal land in the region to non-tribals.
