Orissa to clear Hurdles to Posco project

The Orissa government today said it would within the next 3 months, remove all hurdles to South Korean steel giant Posco's Rs 52,000 crore plant in the state amid a possible review of investment by the steelmaker.

"We will find ways within the next three months to sort out all hurdles. Already the steel giant has been given 1,100 acres of land for its proposed 12 million tonne integrated steel plant in Jagatsinghpur district," Orissa Steel and Mines Minister Padmanabha Behera said.

He reasoned that misgivings among the people in the project site were being addressed and hoped that Posco would commence work on its project in due course.

Reacting to media reports that Posco was planning to withdraw from the coastal state, Behera argued: "One needs to understand that we are progressing as per the terms and conditions enshrined in the MoU we signed in June 2005."