VISA Industries plans steel plant at Chattisgarh

VISA Industries plans to set up a steel plant in Chattisgarh as part of its strategy to diversify into manufacturing from trading.

Vishal Agarwal, managing director, VISA Industries, said the company was in the process of acquiring land and the process was expected to be complete by the end of the year. The size of the project is yet to be finalised and will depend on the allotment of land.

The Chattisgarh project would be VISA's second steel manufacturing venture in the country. The company is setting up a 1.5 million tonne special steels plant in Orissa. Agarwal said, the Orissa project would focus on special steel while the Chattisgarh plant would be a carbon steel one.

The investment in the Orissa plant would be around Rs 1,600 crore and would be completed in phases. Agarwal said: "Each of the projects would have separate financial closure." The project would be funded through a mix of debt and equity.

The growth strategy being chalked out by the group is not just restricted to Indian shores. VISA group is eyeing investment opportunities in the mining sector in Australia, South Africa and Indonesia. Agarwal said, an office has been set up in Indonesia and the group would look at coal mining opportunities in the country.

It may be mentioned that the VISA group comprises holding company VISA International with subsidiaries and offices in Bhubaneswar, Brisbane, Hong Kong, London, Beijing, Jakarta and Zug. It also has associates in Japan, South Korea and South Africa.

While the offices in Beijing, Brisbane and Jakarta help in procuring and marketing of commodities, the Hong Kong-office acts as the ship chartering arm of the group.