JAMSHEDPUR: Korean steel giant Posco, which has announced plans of setting up a mega steel plant in Orissa, has expressed concern over the slow progress in obtaining prospecting licence for iron ore mining and acquisition of land leading to delay in start of the project.
The company has proposed setting up a 12-million-tonne integrated steel plant in the coastal state at a cost of Rs 52,000 crore and signed an MoU with the state in June 2005 in this connection.
Chango-ho Kwag, director of Posco Research Institute in Delhi, told media on the sidelines of 'Steelrise 2008' here that securing prospecting licence and land acquisition were the two major issues that were worrying the Posco officials in Korea.
Kwag, who is closely associated with the Posco project in Orissa, said although the company had applied for prospecting licence for iron ore mining in November 2005, there was not much progress in this regard.
The application which was sent to the Orissa Government for onward passage to the Union Ministry of Mines, was sent back as the state had skipped the procedure of public hearing. "Now the public hearing is taking place", Kwag said.
This had led to considerable delay in the start of the project, he reasoned.
The other factor worrying Posco was land acquisition. The project required nearly 4,000 acres of land, but the company has been able to get only 300 acres. Out of the total land requirement, 90 per cent belonged to the state government and the rest was to be purchased from the people.
