Posco India CMD to meet Naveen today

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Korean steel major Posco has expressed intention to downgrade its India project from 12 mtpa, its India CMD Yong-Won Yoon is scheduled to meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday to take up several issues involving the project, including finalisation of the renewal of the memorandum of understanding (MoU).Yoon would meet Naveen at the Secretariat on Wednesday evening to deliberate on measures that could give the proposed steel plant project the much-needed push. Yoon’s meeting would follow South Korean ambassador Kim Joong Keun’s meeting with Naveen on May 2. Keun had said Posco would reduce the capacity of its proposed steel facility if the Odisha government failed to hand over the requisite 4,004 acre for the mega 12 million tonne per annum plant. The envoy had also said Posco could begin construction work in the second half of this year if it could get around 2,700 acre land.The State Government and Posco had signed MoU on June 22, 2005 for establishment of 12 million tonne plant near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur. The MoU which lapsed on June 22, 2010 is yet to be renewed. The Posco steel project, the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country, has failed to take off because of strong local resistance to land acquisition and other hurdles. Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty, however, said the company is yet to submit any proposal to the State Government in this connection. The State Government will consider the proposal after receiving it.The Minister said that the 12 million tonne proposed project required 4,004 acres. This included 2,958.82 acres forest land and 606 acres of government land. Only 437 acres are private land, he said.The State Government has already acquired 2,000 acres for the proposed project out of which 558 acres have been handed over to Posco. The rest of the land will be handed over soon, he said. Mohanty said that Posco had proposed to set up four modules of three million tonnes each for reaching 12 million tonne capacity. Later, this was changed to three modules of four million tonnes each. Now, if Posco wants to downsize the plant, the State Government will consider the proposal when submitted, he said. On renewal of the MoU, the Minister said that the draft had been referred to the Law Department for examination.