The long, delayed Posco project in the State, India’s first single largest foreign direct investment near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district, is all set to forge ahead with both Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Ambassador of Korean Republic to India lee Joongyu on Monday expressing their assertion that the construction of the project would commence soon.
“Posco project is now on track and we expect that the construction work would start shortly,” said Chief Minister Patnaik after he discussed the progress of the project with the visiting South Korean Ambassador Joongyu, who met him here.
Stating that the construction of the over eight years’ delayed Posco India project will start soon, Joongyu hoped that the foundation stone for the project would be held early in 2014.
“My lady President of Republic of South Korea is visiting India early next year. We would like to see that the project is inaugurated before the visit of my President to India early next year,” Joongyu said.
There is no deadline. However, we want that the project should be inaugurated very soon, he said.
The Korean Ambassador expressed his happiness that the State Government had already completed acquisition of the required land for the Posco project. To a question, Joongyo hoped that a fresh Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be signed between the Odisha Government and Posco India soon. “The State Government has agreed on preparing a new MOU. Posco had already met the queries sought by the Government. The project has already been delayed over eight years,” he said.
On mining lease issue, he said that the Supreme Court of India had already given its clearance of the final regulatory hurdles. The Central Government had sent some queries to the Odisha Government for its response, he said, adding, there is not any problem and all these formalities would be over soon.
Expressing his disappointment over the UN report advising Posco to refrain from the Odisha Project for alleged human rights violation issue, Joongyo said that the report published in the media was not a complete one.
In his reaction, the Korean Ambassador regretted that the UN delegation who came to Delhi only recorded the version of those who had been opposing the Posco project. They did not even come to Bhubaneswar or visit the location and meet the State Government authorities or Posco officials, he said.
He hoped that before completing the report on the issue, the UN should hear the State issue with Posco and the Odisha Government. Joongyo asserted that the project once inaugurated would make a big difference as far as the State’s economy and development is concerned. “I want to make it clear that Posco is not coming to make profit only, but would ensure development of the economy and welfare of the people and the State as well,” he said.
World’s fifth largest steel maker Posco, which signed an MoU with Odisha Government way back on June 21, 2005 to set up a 12 MTPA integrated steel plant along with a captive port near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district had to scale down the size of the project to 8 MTPA last year due to the State Government’s inability to acquire the required 4,004 acres. The MoU had already been lapsed since June 21, 2010.
The project has also been delayed due regulatory snags and public protest over acquisition of over 1,600 acres of forest land. Meanwhile, the State infrastructure body IDCO has already acquired required 2,700 acres of land for the first phase of the steel project.
“Once the required land is handed over, Posco is ready with its plan to complete the 8 MTPA steel mill in two phases within five years,” said a company spokesperson.