The Union Government has rejected the Odisha Government’s request to grant prospecting licence (Pl) to South Korean steel major Posco for its proposed $12-billion project near Paradip.
“We had requested the Centre to treat Posco as a special case and grant it a prospecting licence. But the Ccentre has rejected our request. It has made it clear that Posco, like others, has to take part in the open auction to get Khandadhar or any other mines,” said Odisha Steel and Mines minister Prafulla Mallick on Thursday.
On whether the State Government would make a fresh request to the Centre to reconsider its decision, Mallick said it would be considered after discussing the Centre’s response.
Notably, in his reply to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s letter last month requesting the Centre to exempt Posco from the auction process in view of the commitments made to the company both by the Central and State Governments, Union Steel and Mines minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said all mines would be auctioned as per the amendment to the MMDR Act.
Posco was previously promised the Khandadhar iron ore mine by the State Government, but mine allocation never happened due to claims by other players and delays in regulatory approvals.
After the rejection of the State Government’s special request, Posco would have to bid in the upcoming auction to get an iron ore mine as per the MMDR Amendment that provides for allocation of all mines only through the auction route.