Hanging fire for long, SC clears Posco’s $12-bn steel plant

New Delhi, August 8 : The green bench of the Supreme Court today gave its nod to South Korean steel major Posco to set up Rs 51,000-crore 12-million-tonne integrated steel plant and captive minor port in Orissa. The decision by the bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia allowed Posco India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Korea-based Posco, is a significant boost to the project, India’s single biggest foreign investment, which has been hanging fire for more than two years in the face of stiff local opposition against land acquisition.

The steel major is eyeing Orissa’s Kandhadar iron-ore mines, estimated to have a reserve of about 150 million tons. The state Government only yesterday has completed the hearing on all the 227 applications for the mine.

Posco’s total requirement is 4,004 acres, of which 3,586 acres is state land and 436 acres private. Within the state land, 2,953 acres is forest land and to change its land use for industry purposes, there is a provision under Forest Conservation Act, entailing creation of alternate forests to mitigate the industry’s adverse impact on environment.

The Supreme Court cleared this proposal and it will facilitate transfer of land to Posco India by Orissa.

While issuing a direction to the Orissa government to dispose all pending Posco’s applications seeking prospecting licences within four weeks, it also asked the state to send its recommendations to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which would then “proceed in accordance with law.”

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

Welcoming the decision, Posco India Senior General Manager Vikash Sharan said, “We reiterate our firm commitment to the project and are determined to move ahead in terms of land preparation and construction activities at full speed.”

Posco, the world’s third-largest steel producer, on June 22, 2005 entered into an MoU with the Orissa Government for the steel plant in the state. 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. “Unlike bauxite mines, there is no shortage of iron ore mines as India exports more than one million tonnes. The company can source raw materials...

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