The Hindu Business Line : POSCO project: Orissa taking steps to solve land problems

Land woes
Government holding discussions with local people to sort out land issues.
Government dismisses reports of POSCO considering withdrawal.
It may exclude some villages to avoid displacement of people.

Bhubaneswar March 26 The Orissa Steel and Mines Minister, Mr Padmanabha Behera, on Monday said the State Government was taking all possible measures to solve the land acquisition problems facing the proposed 12-million-tonne steel project in the State's Jagatsinghpur district.

"The support for the POSCO steel plant was growing and we are hopeful of solving the crisis within the next three months," Mr Behera told Business Line here.

"The number of the villagers opposing the project was lower than the number highlighted by a section of the media," the Minister said.

"We will hold discussions with the local people and sort out the issues," he said. As regards the stiff opposition the project was facing in some pockets in the area identified for the proposed steel mill, Mr Behera said if required one or two villages would be excluded from the proposed project site to contain opposition.

The Minister dismissed reports that POSCO was considering withdrawal of the steel project due to delay in land acquisition as well as non-granting of prospecting licence for iron ore mines. Although top officials of POSCO have expressed concern over the delay in land acquisition before the Centre as well as the State Government, the company, however, has said that it was pursuing the POSCO-India project with utmost seriousness. "We are pursuing the POSCO-India project in right earnest and with

utmost seriousness," the company said in a statement.

Regarding the visit of POSCO chief, Mr Ku Taek Lee, to New Delhi a few days ago, the company said that the visit was to give an update on the project progress to the Ministries concerned and to seek their continued support for the project.

Exclusion of areas

About the delay in land acquisition, the company sources also said that they were considering exclusion of certain areas with a view to avoid people's opposition to displacement by the proposed steel plant.

"POSCO-India understands various issues related to land acquisition. The company, in consultation with the State Government, is looking into various solutions to address such issues," they said.

More Stories on : Steel | New Projects | Other States

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Models suggest `good' monsoon from La Nina

`Vodafone will answer any query on Hutch'

RCom begins FLAG Tele IPO process

UAE seeks closer trade ties with India

Hindujas join hands with Dubai World

Govt may not allow ONGC-BP alliance for Kutch block

Steel cos may raise prices

POSCO project: Orissa taking steps to solve land problems

Sugar stocks rise as Govt plans incentives for sector

Volkswagen defers India plans; may review models

`Permanently advance IST by half an hour'

`Tightening liquidity could impact markets over near term'

Sell-off towards end weakens Sensex

`Advertisers cannot renegotiate World Cup deals'

Media, entertainment sectors poised for heady growth: Experts