Following is an excerpt from a PTI report.

South Korean steel giant Posco has finally got the clearance from the environment ministry for acquiring forest land for its proposed Rs 54,000-crore steel project in Orissa, which has been already delayed more than a year.

"The Centre gave the final clearance for handing over 2,900 acres of forest land to us for our 12 million tonne steel project in Orissa. We are hopeful that the state government would soon transfer the entire 4,004 acre of land needed for the project to us," Posco India General Manager, External Relations, Simanta Mohanty told PTI.

Nearly 3,600 acres of land out of required 4,004 acres fall under the government category, while the rest remains under private control.

The Anti-POSCO candidates for the gram panchayat elections have won. The details are below. I hope POSCO removes Dhinikia from its plan and both anti and pro POSCO people shun violence and illegal activities sich as blocking roads. Let POSCO be established in those areas where people want it and stay away from places where they are not wanted. Following is an excerpt from a report in orissadiary about the gram panchayat election results.

Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti … PPSS fielded its sarpanch candidate Mr Sisir Mohapatra and PS member candidate Mr Prakash Jena in this panchyat election. Mr Mohapatra is working as secretary of PPSS while Mr Jena has been languishing in Kujang jail since seven months after his arrest on Posco violence issue. PPSS candidate Mr Mohapatra has defeated his rival candidate Mrs Salila Nayak, wife of former sarpanch late Basant Nayak by margin 73 votes .Mr Mohapatra has got 2005 votes while Nayak has got 1932 votes.

Similarly, PS member candidate Mr Jena has also defeated his rivalry candidate Mr Nrusingh Das by 282 votes in which Jena has got 1672 votes while Mr Das has got 1390 votes. Sarpanch candidate Mr Nayak and PS member Mr Das who were defeated from this seat was backed by Posco supporters.

On the other hand, Zilla Parishad candidate Mr Saubhagaya Behera who was contesting as independent candidate has defeated his rival congress candidate Mr Rupakar Sethy by 995 votes. Mr Behera has got 6742 votes while Mr Sethi has got 5767 votes.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The combined area required by these units has now been assessed at 33,268.5 acres, 16.48 per cent less than the 37,750 acres envisaged in the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between these companies and the state government.

The state-owned Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa (Ipicol) had appointed MN Dastur & Co as consultant to prepare a report on the land requirement of various industries after receiving complains about companies demanding more land than they needed for the projects.

Ipicol, based on the report, has reassessed the land needs of the projects. The mega units that have been affected include Posco India, Jindal Steel and Power, Mittal Steel (India), Uttam Galva Steels, Sterlite Iron and Steel, and Bhushan Steel.

On the other hand, there has been no reduction in the land requirement of four mega units — Essar Steel Orissa (2,500 acres), SSL Energy (2,000 acres), Tata Steel (3,500 acres) and Welspun Power and Steel (2,200 acres). Out of the total land requirement, these steel companies have already applied for allotment of 32,034.9 acres, sources say.

Posco India, a subsidiary of South Korean steel major Posco, had sought 6,000 acres in the MoU signed with the state government in 2005 for its proposed 12-million-tonne per annum project near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district. Ipicol, based on the Dastur & Co report, has reassessed the land requirement at 5,525 acres. The company has so far applied for 5,151 acres. While the state government has allotted 516 acres of its land to Posco, the company has already invested Rs 175.5 crore.

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, which is setting up a six-million-tonne per annum steel project at Kerajang, needed about 5,750 acres. This has been cut to 3,843.5 acres by Ipicol. The company has applied to the Orissa government for 4,027 acres and has been allotted 1,719 acres. This includes 687.93 acres of government land and 1,031.85 acres private land. It has invested about Rs 765.46 crore in the project so far.

The land requirement of ArcelorMittal, which is planning to set up a 12-million-tonne greenfield steel project at Patna tehsil in Keonjhar district, has been reassessed at 7,750 acres. The company had sought 8,000 acres in the MoU. It has applied for 7,770 acres and has invested about Rs 50 crore for the project.

Similarly, the land requirement of Uttam Galva Steels, which is setting up a three-million-tonne steel project at Bistapal, has been reduced by 250 acres. While the MoU provided for allotment of 2,400 acres, Ipicol has reassessed this at 2,150 acres. The company applied for 2,146 acres and has been allotted 27.81 acres so far. The company has invested about Rs 35 crore for the project.

The three-million-tonne steel project planned by Sterlite Iron and Steel at Palasponga will have to manage with 1,000 acres less land than what was provided in the MoU. The company’s land requirement has been re-assessed at 2,400 acres. The company had applied for 3,378 acres, though has not been allotted any land so far.

The estimate of land needed by Bhushan Steel for its six-million-tonne per annum steel project at Meramundali in Dhenkanal district has been reduced by 600 acres. Though the company was to be provided 2,000 acres according to the MoU, Ipicol has reassessed the requirement at 1,400 acres. Bhushan Steel had applied for 1,994 acres and has been allotted 1,620 acres. It has invested Rs 5,000 crore in the project.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.

The Supreme Court on Friday permitted South Korean steel major Posco to set up Rs 51,000-crore mega steel plant and captive minor port at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.

A special environmental bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan allowed Posco India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of South Korea-based Posco, to go ahead with its plans.

With this order, the apex court has also cleared forest diversion proposal for the plant site which require 1253.225 hectares of forest land.

The court, while directing the Orissa government to dispose of all the Posco’s applications seeking prospecting licences within four weeks, also asked the state government to send its recommendations to the ministry of environment and forests that would proceed in accordance with law.

The bench also asked the state government to undertake implementation of compensatory afforestation plan under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed committee comprising top officials of the state government.

… Posco counsel Mukul Rohtagi contended that the state government-owned Orissa Mining Corporation had agreed to supply uninterrupted iron ore and other minerals for its steel project and had identified mines in the western part of the state, some 300 km away from its project site.

… The company can source raw materials on its own and can buy the same from the open market, he said, adding that the company is not dependent on prospecting licence.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.

… the new Director of Posco-India, Yong Keun Kim, is however, optimistic about his plans for downstream industries.

… His recent meeting with IPICOL managing director, Ashok K Meena, has unfolded the road map of Posco on downstream and ancillary industries.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, he said that Posco’s greenfield project near Paradip would create enormous opportunities for developing ancillary and downstream units close to the steel plant.

Some of the units that are likely to come up, include automobiles, shipbuilding, fishing vessel, heavy fabrication and downstream heat and coil processing, reveals the document.

There is a vast scope of indirect employment opportunity once the ancillary industries are set up in the area, the document says.

Posco has requested the state government for a piece of land near Paradip to set up the facilities.

A detailed project report (DPR) is being prepared by the company, in which investors from South Korea would join for setting up downstream and ancillary projects.

Following are extracted from a report in the Pioneer.

• the State Commerce and Transport Department, in its sanction order-29753, dated May 30, 1970, had allotted 3, 793.21 acres in the first phase and 2285.23 acres in the second phase to the Paradip Port Project. Most of the lands were obtained from Sandhakuda, Bijayachandrapur, Balijhari and Bhitaragara villages, under Kujang Tehsil. According to the official sources, about 6,889 acres of land were supplied to the Paradip Port Trust.
• The State Government had provided 62.19 acres of land to the Paradeep Phosphate Ltd, which is a fertiliser plant that started its project in 1982. The PPL had acquired 405 acres of private lands from Bhitaragada village on its own.
• … in Paradeep-Cuttack railway line 137 acres of land were acquired from the Bhitaragada village.
• Kujang Tehsil had about 1,500 acres of Government land in the Musadiha area that was provided to the Oswal Fertiliser Plant in the year 1995-96. The plant had also purchased about 500 acres of private land from the local people.
• … in 2000 Indian Oil Corporation had purchased 3,300 acres of private land from the local people of 17 villages for its refinery project, which was to be set up on the outskirts of Paradip but the project is yet to come.
• for much-hyped Haridaspur-Paradip Railway Project, widening of the NH-5 and recent expansion of Cuttack-Paradip State Highway, thousands of acres of both Government and private lands have been acquired from Kujang Tehsil.
• Essar, the 6 million tonnes steel plant project, moves for the land acquisition in Paradip and the project needs about 1,950 acres of land. The State Government has already given 350 acres of land to the plant. It will procure the remaining required land from private land.
• Posco has shown a demand of about 4,004 acres of land in Dhinkia, Gadakujang and Nuagaon villages for its steel plant and port project. The State Government has given assurance and has provided Posco most of the encroached Government and forestlands. The rest of the required land would be purchased from private landowners.

Following is an excerpt from a report on Pioneer on this.

Leader of the opposition JB Patnaik on Thursday came out with an alternative proposal on how to provide water to Posco’s proposed steel plant at Paradip without compromising the interest of farmers.

Addressing a Press conference, Patnaik said a dam could be built on the lower Mahanadi basin near Ersama to provide water to Posco’s plant at Paradip. Ersama is only 30 to 35 km from Ersama and it would not be difficult for Posco to take water from this place.

Patnaik has also come out with another proposal on how to meet the demands of the water requirement of the other industries. As per Patnaik, a barrage should be built on the IB River, on the upper basin of Mahanadi. He further said that a proper assessment should be made on the water requirements of the industries.

Following is an excerpt from Pioneer on this.

The Forum stated that the land requirement of South-Korean steel maker Posco India Ltd has 4,004 acres, including around 3,566 acres of Government land, for their proposed 12 million ton steel plant at Paradip; based on all weather port, SEZ status as well as Finex process for production process. On the other hand, MSIL had shown a total requirement of 8,750 acres, including 4, 469.79 acres of Government land, for their 12 million ton proposed steel complex at Patna in Keonjhar district. Dastur and Co is yet to submit the post- DPR.

Former Wing Commander Kiran Sankar Behera and Sudershan Pattnaik of KCF pointed out the contrast between the land requirements shown by Essar, JSPL, Sterlite (Vedanta Group) and Uttam Galva for their proposed steel complexes at Paradip, Angul and Sadar Sub-division of Keonjhar district and that of Posco.

For instance, Uttam Galva Steel Limited (UGSL) had shown a land requirement of 2,130 acres for their 3-million-tonne projects like Vedanta, Essar and Jindal whose complexes are to come up at Keonjhar, Paradip and Angul.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Ajit Tripathy asked the MSIL Group to release their land requirement.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed sources informed that Dastur and Co had submitted a detailed tech-economic feasibility study, in which the exact requirements of land for steel, sponge and pig iron per metric tonne were clearly mentioned, in accordance with the standards fixed by the State Government, a few months back.

Observers maintained that in the present day production process employs high technology, mostly latest Chinese technology. For cost-effective and qualitative management, the best option is to have very less amount of land for keeping daily inventory and for waste disposal at the proposed site. This will prove time friendly for both the State and the companies.

Business standard reports that Posco near Paradip in Orissa has received a major boost with people of two grampachayats, out of three panchayats affected by the project, writing to the district collector pledging their support to the project. Excerpts:

“For its steel project, Posco had sought 4,004 acres of land spreading over three panchayats — Nuagoan, Gada Kujanga and Dhinkia. Of the total land, 3,566 acres are government land while the remaining 438 acres are privately owned.

However, the company was unable to acquire land due to stiff opposition by the local people to the project even after lapse of two years of signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Orissa government in June 2005 and issue of 4/1 notification for land acquisition in May 2006.

The recent submission by the village committees of Nuagaon and Gada Kujanga to the Jagatsinghpur district collector, pledging their support to the project, has brightened up the prospect of its establishment, pointed out an official of the district administration.

The two panchayats account for 238 acres, out of 438 acres of private land slated to be acquired for the project. Similarly, of the 471 families likely to be displaced by the project, 275 families belong to these panchayats.

Further boosting up the company’s moral 40 betel vine owners, who are among the most affected villagers, have recently surrendered their betel vines and accepted compensation while 250-300 others are waiting to surrender their vines.

In their letters, the respective village committees have expressed their willingness to part with land for the project and offered their participation in the peripheral development work to be undertaken by the government, the sources added.

However, the Dhinkia panchayat, which is the nerve centre of anti-Posco movement, is yet to reconcile though fissures have appeared in stitching up a united front by the people of this panchayat against the company. Seventy-two families from Patna village under Dhinkia gram panchayat have offered their land to the project.

Similarly, the people of Gobindpur village under this gram panchayat pledged their support to the project in September 2007, and invited the district collector to visit them to discussion on land acquisition and compensation packages.

The growing support for the Posco plant was further demonstrated when over 5,000 people attended a rally and public meeting under the leadership of local MLA and senior BJD leader Damodar Rout at Balitutha, the entry point to the troubled site on November 1.

This was the first show of strength by the pro-project groups whose support to the project was often muted by the vocal and often violent opposition mounted the anti-project brigade in the area. To counter the pro-Posco rally, the project opponents had organised a demonstration just across the Balitutha bridge. However, they were hugely outnumbered with about 1,000 people participating in it.

But the leaders of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), spearheading the agitation against the proposed plant, are willing to accept defeat just on the basis of this headcount.

Most of the people who participated in the pro-Posco rally were outsiders who were transported to the venue by the ruling party, says Abhaya Sahoo, the president of PPSS.

“We will continue our fight and not allow the company to set up its plant here,” he added.“

This looks positive.
Just to summarize

• GadaKujang and Nuagaon are supporting the project.
• Some villages in Dhinkia Panchayat seem to be favouring POSCO like Patna village and Gobindpur village.
• 5000 people supported POSCO in the rally, but , 1000 went against it.
• 72 families from Patna village have already offered land.
• This was the first show of strength by the pro-project groups whose support to the project was often muted by the vocal and often violent opposition mounted the anti-project brigade in the area

Pioneer reports that Ersama MLA and former Minister Damodar Rout on Sunday has initiated a joint political move in favour of the Posco project proposed near Paradip in his constituency.

Excerpts

“Under no particular party’s banner, political leaders met in Jagatsinghpur to chart out a strategy for a show of strength with a slogan Aage maati pare party, literally meaning land first, party later. Presiding over the meeting, Rout harped on the fact that 85 per cent people in Kujang tehsil, where the South Korean steel major wants to set up its greenfield project, were supporting the 12-million-tonne per annum plant. As they are not united, their voice is cowed down by a handful of agitators. Rout sought to prove the point that the anti-Posco brigade was a minority group making tall claims. It was decided to organise a mass meeting on Tuesday at Balitutha, which leaders cutting across party lines would address. Rout’s move follows Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s instructions to him to extend his support for the Posco project in his constituency.

Rout, in his turn, has asked the Jagatsinghpur district authorities to help in smooth conduct of the Tuesday meeting, to which Collector Pramod Kumar Mehrada and SP RP Singh have reportedly agreed.

More than 60 representatives from various political parties participated in the deliberations on Sunday. A few of them suggested to organise the mass meeting at a later stage, but Rout said, “Strike the iron when it is hot.”

A section of political observers, however, feels that there may be a scuffle between the anti- and pro-Posco supporters on the day”

Daily Pioneer reporter Kahnu Nanda reports that situation is turning in favour of POSCO in the Kujang Block. The Article is reproduced below:

“Days after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asserted that the mega greenfield steel plant by South Korean steel major Posco will be established at Kujang and that construction work would start from April 1, 2008, Posco has reiterated its commitment to the project.

An overwhelming section of people living in the proposed project site areas, including representatives of several political parties, social activists and local senior citizens, are moving fast to garner support for the project’s implementation.

Reports indicate that several meetings and campaigning has been held in project site at village level in the past week in a bid to woo the locals in the project’s favour.

Different project sympathisers have been organising these pro-Posco meetings and Ersama MLA and former Minister Damodar Rout has proposed to organise a mass public meeting in Balitutha Hat on October 27 just at a stone’s throw distance from the project opponents’ road block over Balitutha Bridge since September 24.

Sources said that a pro- Posco meeting was organised under the leadership of former PS member Jiban Lal Behera and the meeting was attended by most of habitants and discussed the Posco issues at length.

The senior villagers, attending the meeting too opined setting up of the project and unanimously resolve requesting the Posco authorities to reopen its closed Kujang office immediately.

Meanwhile, Ranjan Das a social activist and native of Polang, an affected village for the project, arranged a meeting in village on Tuesday in a move to garner support for Posco.

The Chief Minister’s endeavours to have a dialogue with project opposition groups had described a salutary effort while the villagers emphasised that the Posco authorities need to directly interact with the affected people for land acquisitions, Askhya Das, a villager revealed.

The political atmosphere in the project sites of Gadakujang, Dhinkia, Nuagaon, Chatua, Balitutha and Bamadeipur villages saw a startling incident on Tuesday when one Dhruba Charana Muduli, a social activist had called an all party meeting in Gadakujanga to discuss the Posco stalemate.

The meeting was attended by most of the members of different political parties of the locality excluding Leftists.

In the meeting a decision was taken to form an all party co ordination committee taking members from different political parties to hold dialogue with the State Government, the district administration and the Posco authorities to sort out the project obstacles, informed a member of a major political party.

Meanwhile, sources said that a similar type of meeting had been organised in Govindpur village under the leadership of Nirvay Samantray and project sympathiser Tamil Pradhan had conducted a meting in his Nuagaon village on Wednesday.

However, reports said that most of Posco supported leaders at the proposed project site villages have been organising meetings and campaigning to bring a pro attitude since the Chief Minister and Posco agreed for the project inception last week.

Ersama legislator Damodar Rout ,who was keeping distance from Posco related issues earlier has started organising mass contact campaigning with a message against anti -Posco sentiments in project site villages.

However, Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) who is spearheading the anti-Posco movement since one year vowed to oppose the project tooth to nail and refused to act on the Chief Minister’s desire of a dialogue.

According to them the project would wipe out 11 villages and affect around 20,000 habitants therefore no industry should not be set up at the cost of agricultural lands that threatens to take away the livelihood of people.

Abhaya Sahoo, PPSS chairman slammed the State Government for being insensible towards the affected locals, and also threatened of not giving one inch of land for the Posco project. He blamed the local leaders for organising pro Posco meetings in their areas under the influence and getting financial supports from Posco.”

The following is extracted from an ndtvprofit.com report.

• The state government, Posco agreed to April 1 deadline as the date was significant for both Orissa and the steel major. It is observed as ‘Utkal Divas’ and also the anniversary of Posco, Lee said.
• During the discussion, Patnaik pointed out that 512 acres of government land had already been sanctioned to Posco, while 3,000 acres of forest land was cleared by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), official sources said.

  Posco required 4,004 acres near Paradip to set up its proposed 12 mtpa capacity steel mill which had been facing opposition from the local people. “Though land was ready for handover to Posco, this could not be done in the face of stiff opposition from the local people,” they said.

• Patnaik said the state government would complete hearing of all applications for Khandadhar mines in Sundargarh district by November, sources said.

  Orissa government had already recommended the name of the South Korean company for the Prospecting Licence (PL), they said.

• Patnaik urged Lee to immediately commence construction of transit accommodation for the displaced people and a training center for imparting technical education to local youths so that they could be provided with jobs in future.

Rediff reports that the new SEZ policy has been announced by the Govt.

Excerpts”

The National Policy on Rehabilitation and Resettlement, 2007, which was cleared at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, provides for land-for-land compensation, besides preference to affected families for jobs in projects coming up on their plots.”“The new policy seeks to make those entitled for compensation stakeholders in development by allowing them to take up to 20 per cent of the amount in the form of shares if the acquiring entity is authorised to issue these instruments.

“With prior approval of the government, this proportion can be as high as 50 per cent of the rehabilitation grant and compensation amount,” the Rural Development Ministry said.

The policy discourages speculative transactions of land acquired for public purposes. As a relief for developers, 30 per cent land can be compulsorily acquired by states for the promoters while the rest has to be bought by them.”

Reliance has welcomed this policy. It remains to be seen what implications this has on POSCO which wants SEZ status for it’s project.

Following up on the report in our previous entry, another political party, albeit with a small presence in Orissa, has come out in support of POSCO. Following is an excerpt from Pioneer.

The Samajwadi Party has lent its support to the pro-Posco villagers in their bid to cooperate with the officials for land acquisition for the company’s steel project. The party’s State president Baisnab Charan Parida, in a statement, said adequate compensation to the evacuees and their proper rehabilitation, training to the local people for employment and a thorough discussion with the supporters and opponents of Posco on development of education, health and communication facilities in the peripheral area by the company official as well as the State Government should be taken up at the earliest.

In an era of globalisation, if a country hesitates to open up its economy and decry establishment of industries by multinationals, it would remain backward, he added.

POSCO has also come up with some novel opportunities for the displaced people. Following are excerpts from a Business Standard report.

Korean major considers offering locals an export market in addition to compensation.

Korean steel giant Posco is taking a novel route to persuade land-owners to sell their land in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district where its Rs 52,000 crore, 12 million tonne steel plant is to be located.

Apart from monetary compensation for the land, Posco is offering the 140-odd fishermen families that will be displaced by India’s largest greenfield steel plant an assured market for dried fish and mango pickle in South Korea.

The company, which has been facing stiff resistance from locals who will lose land to the project, proposes to train fishermen in the area to produce the dried fish coveted by Koreans, according to a Posco India spokesman.

“Around 160 families in the periphery have shown interest and will be included in the programme,” he said. He said some 160 families on the periphery of the project had accepted the proposal.

A similar programme is being planned for betel vine cultivators. “They have shown interest in fruit, especially mangoes. We will get pickle manufacturers to collaborate with them and export these products to South Korea,” he added.

A socio economic survey, which is still being conducted, indicates that there are around 50 betel vine owners and 1,000 cultivators for 1,200 betel vines. “Not just the owners, the cultivators will also be included in the programme,” he said.

The plan has been suggested as a solution to the vexed problem of compensating land-losers by offering them sustainable livelihood. At the same time, it will meet a growing demand for dried fish and pickle in Korea. According to reports, Korea’s imports are expected to exceed exports due to depletion of fish resources. Its pickle demand is primarily met by China.

…“The products developed by the fishermen and betel vine cultivators will be exported to Korea through Posco’s captive port. After meeting the demand in the Korean market, they can be exported to South East Asia,” the spokesman said.

Posco India is currently in the last leg of its land-acquisition programme. Of the required land of 4,004 acres, the Orissa government is to provide 3,566 acres (of which it is yet to get possession). The company will have to buy the remaining 438 acres of land directly from land-owners.

The rehabilitation & periphery development advisory committee (RPDAC) is expected to meet shortly to decide on the compensation package. The committee comprises representatives from the government, the company and the local people.

The private land covers three gram panchayats — Gada Kujanga, Muagaon and Dhinkia, the latter being the largest tract covering 200 acres and has been the most aggressive in leading an agitation against Posco’s steel plant.

However, the Posco spokesman said, things have improved and the survey indicated that around 90 per cent of the people wanted to shift to other means of livelihood.

Following is a report from Samaja on this. This is what more legislators of the area should be doing, but without fighting among themselves.

Following are excerpts from a report in english.chosun.com.

… After a rough start, POSCO is expected to finally have a site allocated for a planned steel mill in India, while an investment in a new Vietnam steel mill is likely to move ahead in October.

According to POSCO on Wednesday, the Indian government recently made it known that they plan to determine whether to give environmental clearance for the 4,004 acre site in Paradip in the province of Orissa.

Some 3,566 acres or 89.1 percent of the site of the planned one-stop steel system belongs to the government. Of that, 3,097 acres (86.9 percent) is forest land. For now, POSCO has only secured 193 acres (4.8 percent).

A POSCO official said, "The final decision has not yet been made, but we heard that the site might be released from the forest zone soon. The state-owned land accounts for nearly 90 percent of our site. In other words, if the area is released from the forest zone, the biggest obstacle to our effort to secure the site disappears."

Following are some excerpts from a PTI report in Economic Times.

Setting at rest speculation on the fate of its Rs 52,000 crore steel project, South Korean giant Posco has decided to begin construction work on the 12 million tonne plant in Orissa by October.

“We will begin construction work of our 12 MT project in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district by October on whatever land we have acquired so far,” Posco India Chairman and Managing Director Soung Sik Cho said. …

“We believe things have undergone a sea-change during the last few months. People are clearly convinced that they will benefit from the project. Now they have a better understanding of the entire situation,” he reasoned.

Posco was also enthused after the union government gave environmental approval to the project. Moreover, the Naveen Patnaik government in Orissa has been asked by the Centre to take the mega investment process forward.

“Actually things are now looking much brighter. We have also received the official nod for our captive port project at Jatadhari, which has also encouraged us,” Cho pointed out.

The Korean steel giant has decided to begin construction work initially on 400 acres of non-forest land, and then on the revenue land to be given to it by the Orissa government.

“Now the only issue remains to be resolved is granting captive iron ore mines to us. But here also I believe things are moving in the right direction,” Cho said.

Following are excerpts from a Sambada report.

The Hindu reports that environmental clearance has been granted to POSCO steel plant. POSCO has earmarked 1,525 crores for environmental pollution control as per the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) as well as the state government conditions. Excerpts:

“The Ministry of Environment and Forests has given the environmental clearance for Posco’s mega steel project at Kujang near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa,” highly-placed official sources said.The Korean steel giant had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Orissa government in June 2005 pledging an investment of Rs 52,000 crore for setting up the plant.

“The project authorities shall utilise Rs 1,525 crore earmarked for environmental pollution control measures judiciously to implement the conditions stipulated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) as well as the state government. The funds so provided shall not be diverted for any other purpose,” a source quoted the Environment and Forests Ministry as saying, while granting clearance.

The clearance has been granted to the world’s third largest steel manufacturer for installing furnaces using FINEX technology only and on the condition that gaseous emissions from its various units should strictly conform to load/mass based standards notified by the government.

Earlier in April, the MOEF had granted its approval under Coastal Regulation Zone to the Korean steel giant’s proposal to set up a captive port at Jatadhari at a cost of Rs 17,113 crore.”