Orissa assures it will expedite Posco project

BHUBANESWAR - Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday assured South Korean President Lee Myung-bak that the state government will expedite the work on Posco’s project which proposes to set up $12 billion mega steel plant near Paradip.

“I have just had a meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on the mega steel project by Korean steel major Posco. And I have assured him that work on the project would be expedited. I have also assured that the work will start soon,” Patnaik said on his return from Delhi.

Posco, one of the world’s biggest steel makers, signed a deal with the Orissa government in June 2005 to set up the project near the port town of Paradip in coastal Jagatsinghpur district, some 100 km from here, by 2016.

The steel maker requires about 4,004 acres for the project, of which 2,900 acres are forest land. The project has been delayed over two years due to various reasons, including protests by locals.

Thousands of locals have been protesting the project, saying it will displace them from their homeland and ruin their betel-leaf farms. Posco and the government maintain the project will bring prosperity and employment to the region.

There has been no progress on the ground despite the state receiving last month final clearance from the union forest and environment ministry for acquiring forest land for the project.