With the Odisha government about to complete land acquisition for Posco's 8 mtpa greenfield steel mill near Paradip, the South Korean steel major today said it is awaiting a call from the state administration for renewal of the MoU for its Rs 52,000-crore project.
"...Yes we had a talk with the Chief Minister regarding renewal of the MoU for the project. We were told that the MoU will be put on the CM's table for clearance. The state has to take a call on that matter. We are waiting for that," Posco India CMD Yong-Won Yoon told reporters after holding a discussion with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here.
Though the state government's Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Posco India has lapsed since June 22, 2010, it was not renewed or revised even as the district administration of Jagatsinghpur carried out land acquisition for the Posco project.
Asked when the MoU would be revised, Yoon said: "That is what we cannot say right now. The state will take a call on that."
The state's Steel and Mines minister R K Singh, on the other hand, said the state was likely to sign a fresh MoU instead of renewing or revising the old document signed with the steel major way back on June 21, 2005.
Meanwhile, sources said the state government had already acquired 2,500 acres of land out of 2,700 acres for setting up the 8 mtpa steel mill in Jagatsinghpur district in first phase.
Describing his meeting with Patnaik as a 'courtesy' call, Yoon said the company was not sure about when the land would be handed over to the company. "With the recent mining case going in our favour and the state government taking positive initiative to clear the land, we are hopeful that it will be handed over to us soon.
