South Korean steelmaker Posco's Rs 54,000-crore project in Orissa, mired in land acquisition problems, will soon get the required area for the plant, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh today said.
"Posco will soon get the possession of land for its steel plant to be set up in Orissa," Singh told reporters here on the sidelines of Steel Mart Expo.
The Rs 54,000-crore project, billed as India's single largest FDI, failed to take off due to stiff opposition from farmers to part with their land. The project now delayed for five years as it had signed an agreement with the Orissa government in 2005 to set up a plant with an annual production capacity of 12 million tonnes.
Recently, the environment ministry had asked the Orissa government to "stall all activities" related to the Posco project citing violation of green norms in land acquisition.
The world's third largest steelmaker, Posco, requires a total of 4004 acres of land in the Jagarsinghpur district of mineral rich Orissa. Most of the required land falls under the green cover.
The steel minister asked Posco to give adequate compensation, job opportunities, education and annuity to the people from whom land is acquired.
"...We want that an adequate compensation should be given, employment opportunities should be created and annuity can also be given to those whose land will be taken for the project. Proper rehabilitation of the oustees should be there," he said.
Singh expressed concerns that delays in giving clearances to Posco's project could hit prospective foreign investment.
The country has an annual steel production capacity of 72 million tonnes and is in process of taking it up to 120 million tonnes by 2012. To meet the rising demand of the commodity, the Minister sought raising domestic steel output.
For April-August period he said, the steel consumption grew by 9.4 per cent against steel production growth of just 2.6 per cent in the same period as compared to the year-ago period.
To meet the rising need of the consuming industry like construction and automobile, Singh said Posco and state-owned SAIL have tied up to set up a steel plant at Bokaro. Also, ArcelorMittal had proposed to set up plants with the capacity of 12 million tonnes each in Jharkhand and Orissa.
Moreover, on the issue of export of iron ore, the Minister sought complete ban on its export in order to conserve it for domestic future requirements.
Besides seeking ban on iron ore exports, the Minister said export duty on the mineral can be enhanced to flat 20 per cent. "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also sympathetic to our demand (to raise export duty)," he said.
At present iron ore fines attract 5 per cent export duty while 15 per cent duty is imposed on iron ore lumps.
