By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : The Orissa government has not yet renewed its pact with South Korean Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) to set up a $12 billion project in the state, a senior state official said Thursday.
“The renewal may take some more time because the government was still examining certain issues,” a senior official of the state steel and mines department told IANS, adding he could not give any specific time frame for the process.
“It may take a week, a month or several months,” said the official, who did not want to be identified. He refused to divulge information about the issues the government was examining.
POSCO had signed a memorandum of understanding June 22, 2005 for a 12 million tonne steel plant near the port town of Paradip in coastal Jagatsinghpur district, some 100 km from here.
Ahead of the pact expiry, POSCO had written to the government in June last year seeking its renewal for another five years.
The integrated steel, mining and port project – touted as the biggest foreign direct investment in the country – has been mired in controversy.
While thousands of people who are protesting against it saying it will displace them from their homeland and ruin their farm based economy, the state government has been accused of pushing the project violating rules.