The Odisha Government will soon transfer about 2,000 acres to South Korean steel major Posco to begin work on its $12-billion project near Paradip in Odisha, stuck for seven years now.
“We have acquired 2,000 acres for Posco. We have begun the process of land transfer which will be completed as soon as possible,” the Odisha Mines Minister, Mr Raghunath Mohanty, told PTI.
“Of the total 2,000 acres acquired by the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IIDCO), 500 acres have already been transferred to the steel major and the remaining will be done at the earliest,” he said.
Mr Mohanty said that the steel company now needs 2,700 acres to start work on the proposed 8 mtpa plant and the State Government would take all possible measures to acquire and transfer remaining 700 acres as well.
As per the revised strategy to set up an 8-mtpa plant, expandable up to 12 mtpa, the Korean major requires 2,700 acres. It, last month, had said that it will begin work on the project by October.
For 12 mtpa project, it requires 4,004 acres.
Its India CMD, Y.W. Yoon, had called on the Odisha Chief Minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik, last month.
Mr Mohanty said the memorandum of understanding with Posco would also be renewed soon and a tripartite agreement will be signed.
The $12 billion project (Rs 52,000 crore) is hanging fire for the last about seven years due to land acquisition and regulatory hurdles.
Posco had entered into a pact with the Odisha Government on June 22, 2005, for setting up the steel mill at Jagatsingpur.
However, even if the steel giant overcomes land problems, it will have to wait for green clearances as the National Green Tribunal on March 30 had suspended the clearance granted on January 31, 2011. The tribunal directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to review afresh the approval.
The Tribunal had pointed out that the memorandum of understanding between the Odisha Government and Posco states that the project is for steel production of 12 million tonnes per annum but the environment impact assessment (EIA) report has been prepared only for 4 mtpa in the first phase.
The Tribunal’s decision had come close on the heels of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, assuring South Korean President Mr Lee Myung—bak in Seoul earlier this year that the project will be implemented and there was progress on it.