It seems that the Odisha Government’s policy on the Posco project is not clear to the South Korean investor. And this is what Posco-India CMD Yong Won Yoon himself feels.
Won expressed his helplessness when asked as to when his company’s MoU with the State Government would be renewed. He was talking to a visiting team of journalists from Odisha in Pune in Maharashtra on Friday.
Posco’s MoU with the Government has lapsed since June 20, 2010, but there has been no progress in its renewal. The company itself does not know when the MoU will be revised. Whenever Posco inquires about the fate of its MoU, the State Government has a readymade reply, “The Department of law has been examining the provisions.”
The Posco-India CMD indicated that it would not initiate any CSR activities or work for downstream industries until it gets the required land at least to set up its revised 8-mtpa steel facility, if not the originally-planned 12-mtpa capacity mega plant.
However, Posco, which proposed in 2005 to invest Rs 52,000 crore in its project, wants to make it clear it is determined to implement it.
Won hoped that the verdict of the Supreme Court in regard to the mining would go in the company’s favour. He indicated Plan-B in case of an adverse judgment of Supreme Court, saying the company would go in for iron ore from the open market in Odisha to meet the raw material requirement.
He, however, stressed on acquisition of land as it is the first need for the project. Though earlier the company had asked for 4,004 acres of land, now it has reduced their demand to 2,700 acres for its truncated 8-million-tonne-per-year production capacity. In fact, the State-run Idco authorities are hopeful about acquiring 2,700 acres within three months of time.