The Rs 2,200-crore steel plant of MSPL Ltd, the Hospet-based mining and iron exporting company, will be ready for operations in 2009, said Mr Shrenik Baldota, Executive Director, MSPL Ltd.

The plant will have a capacity to produce 1.2 million tonnes (mt) of iron pellet and 1.05 mt of steel per annum. The company plans to scale up its capacity to 5 mt in five years.

"MSPL and the steel company would be two different entities. We may not even use our own ore. We may approach other ore extraction companies for raw material to our steel plant. We are against steel companies having their own iron ore mines," said Mr Shrenik Baldota, Executive Director, MSPL Ltd.

The company proposes to fund the steel plant through internal accruals and a public offering. "We have filed a DRHP with SEBI. We will float the issue at an appropriate time," said Mr N.K. Baldota, Chairman, MSPL Ltd.

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