Visa Steel has pipped TATA Steel and Jindal Stainless in offering the highest bid for chrome ore from Tangarpada in Orissa, a mine that was caught in legal wrangles for many years. Visa Steel has received the H1 status, which means that it has emerged as the highest bidder, for the chrome ore mine owned by the Industrial Development Corp. of Orissa (IDCOL). Interestingly, the chrome ore tender was floated for a second time some time in June 2008. The re-tendering had to be done as the state government of Orissa had rejected the earlier technical bids of TATA Steel and Visa Steel and recommended the case of Jindal Stainless, a few years back. Following this, court cases came up and the Orissa High Court took a decision to quash the bids in the initial tendering process. Finally, the Supreme Court upheld the order of the Orissa High Court for accepting the technical bids of TATA Steel and Visa Steel and also directed IDCOL for re-tendering the financial bids. Winning the tender will enable Visa Steel to secure its ferrochrome production. It is setting up a 1.5 tonnes per annum integrated special and stainless steel plant at Kalinga Nagar in Orissa. It is currently operating a 50,000tpa ferrochrome plant, the capacity of which is being doubled. Visa Steel has also entered into a JV with China-based Bao Steel called Visa Bao for setting up another 100,000tpa ferrochrome plant in Orissa.
