 "Centre seeks status report on Posco")
Bhubaneswar: The Centre has sought a status report on the Posco project from the Odisha government ahead of the next round of India-South Korea foreign offices’ consultation beginning on 27 February.
The two-day foreign office consultation between the two countries would be held in Seoul and the communication for the status report was received from the ministry of steel, an official said.[caption id=“attachment_216144” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Challenges for Posco. Reuters”]  [/caption]
Earlier, the Posco issue had been discussed at the top political level when South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak visited India in 2010.
The proposed mega-steel project of the South Korean firm has not been implemented at the facility in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district.
The project entails an investment of Rs 52,000 crore and even seven years after signing the MoU with the state government, it has still not started. The MoU lapsed two years ago.
The project had obtained final forest clearance and environmental clearance from the Centre but work could not progress due to resistance from the people of seven villages near the project site at Paradip.
The situation turned volatile in December, when one person was killed in a clash during construction of coastal corridor connecting Paradip township with the proposed plant site in Dhinkia area. The state government has since restricted the visit of foreign nationals, including South Koreans, to the proposed plant site areas.
The state-owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO), the government agency assigned to acquire land for the project and develop it for industrial use maintained that it had already acquired about 2,000 acres for the purpose.
However, the land could not be handed over to the company due to opposition from the local people.
PTI
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