The Odisha government is in the final stages of signing a new agreement with South Korea’s Posco and its Indian unit, which will replace the lapsed MoU for the steel maker’s proposed 12-mt plant.
The tripartite pact is awaiting the nod of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
A high-level team of Posco India, led by its Deputy Managing Director Ho Chan Ryu called on the state Chief Secretary B K Patnaik to deliberate on the progress of the project. “I had discussions with Posco India officials. All formalities for signing of the tripartite agreement have been completed and it will be inked very soon. The talks also centred on land transfer to the company and the issue of environment clearance” said Patnaik.
Posco India officials were not immediately available for comments.
The state government had recently said it was ready to transfer 2,000 acres to Posco India where it could start work for the 12-million-tonne steel plant. Billed as the biggest foreign direct investment with the project cost pegged at $12 billion, Posco’s steel mill proposed near Paradip is yet to see the light of the day, battling land acquisition protests from locals for more than seven years.
The revised pact will do away with the contentious ore swapping clause. While the original MoU allowed Posco India to export high alumina content iron ore and import equal quantity of high grade ore from Brazil, the revised agreement will lift the export provision, only allowing the company to swap ore within the country.