Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra on Sunday said the 2,700 acre of land acquired by the State Government for the Posco project and presently in the land bank would be allotted to other interested private companies.
Mishra said the Government has not acquired any private land. The Government has incurred costs in the land acquisition process and are developing it. He revealed that the JSW Group is the front runner among the interested companies. On Saturday, the Minister had said the Posco-India in a letter has requested the Government to take back the 2,700 acre of land provided to it near Paradip for setting up a 12-MTPA steel plant at an investment of Rs 52,000 crore.
However, Minister Damodar Rout had said to the media that if any new industry is started in the acquired land, it would again face local people’s stiff opposition and there would be unrest in the area.
Similarly, Posco Prartirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) leader Abhay Sahu demanded that the acquired land be returned to the original owners. He said the PPSS would start an agitation from Monday on this demand. He also informed that a Vijay Diwas would be celebrated in the area as the Posco has withdrawn its project.