Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra on Wednesday said the Central Government would take a call on the $12-billion Posco steel project in Odisha.
He said the State Government is in discussion with the Central Government to resolve the impediments arising out of the proposed steel project in Odisha. “Now, the ball is in the Centre’s court,” he told mediapersons here.
He also said that the Odisha Government has no information about the Posco backing out from its project in the State. He said the State Government is ready to provide raw materials to the Posco through the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).
Meanwhile, several BJD MPs met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on Wednesday and apprised him about the Posco issue. Jaitely assured to look into the matter positively.
Senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra said the State Government should discuss the issue with the Central Government instead of blaming the Modi Government for the raw material linkage problem.
It is to be noted that the Posco has signed an agreement with the Uttam Steel and Power to do a feasibility study to set up a 3-million-tonne per annum integrated steel plant in Maharashtra.
The Odisha Posco project has been stuck in a decade-long regulatory quagmire starting from land acquisition to getting raw material linkage to the proposed plant. The South Korean company had signed an MoU with the State Government in 2005.