There is no benefit for India in the Posco deal and the project, if allowed, will destroy ecologically sensitive coastal and forest environments, a study has said.
"There is absolutely no benefit for India in this deal, and what Posco will leave behind, if they succeed at all, is a lot of fly ash, destroyed ecologically sensitive coastal and forest environments and thousands of people in misery," said the study on impacts of Posco-India project.
"Thousands of families will be dislocated and suffer irreparable damage to their lives and livelihoods [due to the South Korean project]," it said.
The study 'Tearing through the Water Landscape: Evaluating the environmental and social consequences of Posco project in Odisha, India' was done by a Bangalore-based group "at the request" of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samithi, a group opposing the project.
The study also said Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's support for Posco "legitimises fraud and corruption" in environmental policies.
Ramesh had given nod to the South Korean company to divert over 3,000 acre, of the 4,000 acres demanded, of forest land for a steel-power-port complex.