Posco must clear land dues: State minister

The company has sought item-wise receipts against Rs 30.34 crore it paid for land acquisition for its steel plant in the state

The Odisha government has said Posco India needs to deposit dues for land acquired for its steel project. "First Posco has to deposit the land acquisition dues. Only then we can consider their request for processing expenditure details," said Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra.

Posco has sought item-wise receipts against Rs 30.34 crore it paid for land acquisition for its steel plant in the state. This is after IDCO exerted pressure on the company to pay Rs 54 crore dues within six months, failing which the leased land would be resumed. Though IDCO had acquired over 2,700 acres to facilitate setting up of steel plant, only 1,700 acres have been transferred. IDCO withheld 1,000 acres claiming Posco was yet to clear dues.

In a letter to the state-owned infrastructure company, Posco claimed it paid Rs 23 crore for uprooting betel vines at the project site, Rs 74 lakh for a police base camp, Rs 1.35 crore for road laying and Rs 5.23 crore for acquiring land in nine villages.