Bhubaneswar, Sep 22 - Tata Steel, which has proposed to set up a Rs.21,000-crore plant in Orissa's Kalinganagar, Tuesday said the land acquisition process for the project would be completed soon and work would start by December.

'We hope that the land issues will be resolved soon. We hope to start work on the project by December,' Binay Kumar Singh, vice-president of the Orissa project, told reporters here.

Tata has been facing stiff resistance from local residents against acquiring land for the six-million-tonne per annum project. The mega project suffered a major setback Jan 2, 2006, when 13 tribals were killed in a police firing.

'But let me tell you, we don't want any confrontation keeping in view of the sensitive nature of the issue.