Opposition parties including Congress and BJP on Monday opposed Orissa government’s move to invite Posco-India to begin work on the acquired land near Paradip even before a fresh MoU was signed.
The Opposition reaction came two days after Chief Secretary Mr B K Patnaik announced that the State would talk to the South Korean steel major on commencement of activities at the proposed plant site.
Of about 4,000 acres of land required by the company, the state government acquired 2,000 acres and hence Posco could start work over this land sans much difficulty, the chief secretary said.
“There is no problem in allowing the company to start work at the proposed plant site even before signing of the MoU. Both construction work at the project site and the MoU process can go on simultaneously,” Mr Patnaik said.
Terming the government’s move as “illegal”, both Congress and BJP argued that there was no point in giving advantage to the steel major which had not yet signed the revised MoU deal.
“Allowing the steel company to start work at the field is totally illegal and therefore not acceptable,” former minister and senior BJP leader Mr B B Harichandan said.