Tata Steel Ltd. said Dec. 23 that it executed a definitive deal to acquire Brahmani River Pellets Ltd. from Aryan Mining and Trading Corp. Private Ltd. for 9 billion Indian rupees plus closing adjustments.

The steel major will fund the acquisition from internal cash flows.

Brahmani River owns a 4 million-tonne-per-annum pellet plant and a 4.7-Mtpa iron ore beneficiation facility, with the facilities connected through a 220-kilometer-long underground slurry pipeline in India's Odisha state.

Group Executive Director Koushik Chatterjee said the assets are strategic to the company's Kalinganagar operations and offer significant operating synergies with the slurry pipeline to help reduce freight costs to transfer iron ore from Tata Steel's Joda and Khondbond mines.

As of Dec. 22, US$1 was equivalent to 67.88 Indian rupees.