Post News Network and Agencies
New Delhi/Bhubaneswar, July 16: South Korean steel major Posco has put on hold its $12 billion steel project in the state due to delays in various regulatory approvals. “We are tentatively suspending the Orissa project due to lack of any progress,” Posco chairman and CEO Kwon Oh Joon said.
“Business conditions at home and abroad have changed due to a drop in global steel demand and growing deficit of subsidiaries, which have led us to come to a conclusion that we must step up our reform efforts,” he said at an event in Seoul Wednesday.
Posco’s India spokesperson said, however, that it is not quitting Orissa. “That (Posco qutting Orissa) is not the fact. As there was no progress in the project area, much of office space was lying vacant. It was decided to renovate the office space to a smaller area,” a Posco spokesperson said.
The state government Thursday said it did not have confirmation from Posco India on its withdrawal of the steel plant project from the state.
“No official communication has been received from the South Korean steel major in this regard,” industries minister Debi Prasad Mishra said.
The minister said the reports clearly state that Posco has decided to put its Orissa project on hold and is not withdrawing from the state.
The Posco chairman’s statement has intensified the slugfest among political parties in the state.
“The state government is responsible for the non-implementation of the Posco project. The BJD government has played with the lives and livelihood of people who lost their land, cash crops in the name of the implementation of the Posco project,” said Orissa Congress Committee president Prasad Harichandan.
“What was the state government doing in the last 10 years?” asked BJP leader Suresh Pujari. “There is no point in blaming the MMDR Act, which came into force only this year,” he said.
