New Delhi, May 26 (PTI): Tata Steel will begin construction of its proposed 6-million-tonne steel plant at Kalinganagar in Orissa in the next two months, a senior company official said.

“Pre-fabrication work has already started while actual construction will commence in two months,” Sanjay Choudhry, Tata Steel’s chief of corporate communication, said.

Preparatory work, including soil testing, site clearing and fabrication of the steel rolling mill, is being carried out, he added.

Tata Steel has been planning the project in Orissa at an estimated investment of about Rs 22,000 crore since 2004 but the slow pace of acquiring land and environmental clearances delayed it.

The company needed about 3,200 acres for the plant’s construction while another 400 acres for its rehabilitation colony.

The land has been acquired. The company claims to have shifted 700 families out of 1,100 to its newly built rehabilitation colony.

The company has also placed work orders to purchase machinery and equipment, including blast furnace, sinter plants and slab caster, for its Orissa unit.

After completion of the plant’s construction, the steel major plans to start commercial production in two phases of 3 million tonnes each in the next 36-40 months.