Patnaik heads for Delhi to discuss Posco project

BHUBANESWAR - Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday headed for New Delhi to hold discussions with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on the mega steel project by Korean steel major Posco, the largest foreign direct investment in India.

“He will meet South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and discuss issues relating to the Posco project,” Patnaik’s public relation officer Sukanta Kumar Panda told IANS.

Posco, one of the world’s biggest steel makers, signed a deal with the Orissa government in June 2005 to set up a $12-billion 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 is 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.