Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today was hopeful after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on some big-ticket investment proposals in the state, including Posco. However, on Vedanta’s bauxite mining project in Niyamagiri hills, Patnaik got no relief from the Centre.
The Orissa environment secretary is expected to arrive in Delhi on Tuesday to hold another round of talks with Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh.
“The Prime Minister said that he will certainly see that this matter is taken up and give a push to the project. He said it should be expedited,” Patnaik told reporters after meeting the PM.
He pitched for the Posco project on the grounds of economic benefit it is likely to bring to the country. “I told the Prime Minister it is the biggest FDI project in India. The economic benefits will not just come to Orissa but also to the whole country,” Patnaik added. Posco’s FDI in India stands at $12 billion (Rs 54,000 crore).
Two weeks back, the environment ministry had asked the Orissa government to stop all work related to the Posco steel project following the report of the N C Saxena committee constituted by the ministry.
The committee had found serious violations in the provisions of environmental clearance and the Environment Protection Act by Vedanta. One such violation related to the unauthorised expansion of its capacity from one million tonne a year to six million tonnes. The committee also accused the company of illegally occupying forest land for its $1.7 billion project.
It was of the view that permitting bauxite mining would deprive two primitive tribal groups – the Dongaria and Kutia Kondh – of their rights over the proposed mining site in order to benefit a private company and shake the faith of the tribals in the laws of the land.
The ministry had given clearance to the project on the condition that the company would ensure proper implementation of the Forests Rights Act (FRA) that would settle the land rights of the people living in the area before forest land was acquired for the project.
The panel members, who visited the Posco site to inspect the alleged violations, said work related to the project was in violation of FRA and of the conditions laid down by the MoEF in its forest clearance dated December 29, 2009.
Patnaik was also cautious about Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s proposed visit to Niyamagiri hills later this week to address a tribal rally. He said Gandhi was free to visit any place he liked but added that “the developmental progress of the state ought not to be hindered.”
The Orissa chief minister said the Prime Minister had assured him that he would not allow the Polavaram dam project in Andhra Pradesh to submerge any village in Orissa.
Ramesh, who will announce his decision on Vedanta tomorrow, said his ministry cleared the dam project in seven months and that the 13th finance commission has given Rs 350 crore for forestry management over the next five years along with Rs 200 crore for an integrated coastal regulation zone study.
