Tata Steel's $5 billion project in Vietnam may soon get off the ground with the south-east Asian country offering an alternative site to the steel major for setting up the plant.
"Tata Steel has accepted the last offer made by the authorities there. The next step will be the formal handing over of the land to us," its spokesperson said here.
The world's sixth largest steel maker is expected to start the construction process for the 4.5-Million tonnes per annum plant in Vietnam as soon as the land is allocated to it.
The project got delayed after the earlier site for the proposed plant preferred by Tata Steel was given away to a Taiwanese firm.
Tata Steel's Executive Manager of projects in Southeast Asia Indronil Sengupta told Vietnamese media that the Project Management Board of Vung Ang Economic Park had proposed to hand over 725 hectares of land to the group in Ha Tinh province.
"The investors will spend 700 hectares for building up the factory," media reports said.
Construction for the first phase of the steel project is expected to be finished by 2012 and the second phase by 2013-2014, a company source said adding that the third phase, which is likely by 2017-18, would depend on the market situation and operations of Thach Khe steel ore mine.