Odisha today said it would give an additional 1,000 acres of land to Posco's Paradip project only after National Green Tribunal nod, a move that can dampen plans of a ground breaking ceremony for the unit during South Korean President Park Geun-hye's India visit next month.
"The NGT has put a stay on the Posco project. We will be able to hand over land to Posco only after stay by NGT is vacated," Steel and Mines Minister Rajanikant Singh said in a reply in the state Assembly.
Stating that the state government has already handed over 1,703 acres of land for the Rs 51,000 crore project of the South Korean Steel Major, Singh said Posco required 2,700 acres of land for setting up a 8 mtpa steel mill in the first phase.
He said the company, according to the MoU with the state government in 2005, required a total of 4,004 acres of land for establishing 12-mtpa steel plant near Paradip.
South Korean ambassador to India Joon-gye Lee, who met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on October 7, has said: "Our President is visiting India next year. We would like to see the project inaugurated before her visit."
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik also said: "The Posco project is on the right track. We hope the work for the project will start soon."
Meanwhile, unsure of the progress in the project, Posco has asked the Cabinet Committee on Investment to help salvage its 12-million tonne Odisha steel plant. Though the project has been reviewed several times at the highest level, it could not be implemented due to different reasons, including problems owing to land acquisition.
