Visa Steel is said to have 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.

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The mine is supposedly a rich source for chrome, used to make ferro chrome, a key ingredient in steel making.

Ferro chrome prices have been ruling at very firm levels internationally, having doubled in the last few months.

Industry sources told DNA Money 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 Corporation of Orissa (IDCOL).

Interestingly, the chrome ore tender was floated for a second time some time in June this year.

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.

Visa Steel officials declined to comment but industry sources said winning the tender will enable the company, one of the youngest steel makers in the country, to secure its ferro chrome production. Visa Steel is setting up a 1.5 tonne per annum integrated special and stainless steel plant at Kalinganagar in Orissa.

The company is currently operating a 50,000 tonne per annum ferro chrome plant, the capacity of which is being doubled.

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Visa Steel has also entered into a joint venture with Chinese giant Bao Steel, called Visa Bao, for setting up another 1,00,000 tpa ferro chrome plant in Orissa.