Commenting on the green light received from the government, Essar Steel Holdings CEO J. Mehra said, "The central government has accorded its approval to allow us to prospect Bailadila III deposit in Chhattisgarh. We are awaiting forest clearance from the government and will commence work only after receiving it".
The planned iron ore exploitation is to be carried out on more than 2,000 acres of land, and it is estimated that the deposit contains about 150 million tons of iron ore.
Essar Steel had previously been allotted mines in Bailadila III, known to have reserves of over 100 million tons.
Furthermore, Tata Steel had also been granted government approval for prospecting the Bailadila I deposit, which has nearly 150 million tons of iron ore in reserves. According to the MoU signed in June, 2005, Tata Steel will build a greenfield integrated steel plant with a capacity of five million tons per annum in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. The integrated steel plant is to be built in two stages and will cost $24.5 million.