Welcoming conditional approval for Rs 51,000-crore Posco project by the Environment Ministry, the Orissa government today said the work would resume soon at the proposed site near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.
"We welcome the decision and thank Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh for granting approval though the process was delayed," Orissa's Steel and Mines minister Raghunath Mohanty told reporters here.
Stating that the 12 mtpa plant by the South Korean steel major would give a new direction to industrialisation in Orissa, he said the MoU with Posco-India, which lapsed in June last year, would be renewed soon.
Project related work, which had been stopped following Environment ministry's order in August last year, would resume soon at the proposed site near Paradip, Mohanty said.
Regarding opposition to the mega project by local people, the minister said that the issue would be tackled in a peaceful manner.
Though MoU for the plant was signed between Posco-India and the Orissa government way back in June, 2005, the project failed to take off due to protest from locals and environmental issues.
