Korean media team holds talks with state officials on Posco project

Worried over the inordinate delay in implementation of the Rs 54,000-crore mega steel project proposed by Posco India in Orissa, a four-member team of the Korean Broadcasting Service, based out of Seoul (South Korea), today held talks with the state Chief Secretary B K Patnaik.

The media team from Seoul visited the Posco site before negotiating with Patnaik to take stock of the ground level progress. The team was eager to know of the reasons that have held up the big-ticket project.

"The visiting media team from Korea enquired about various aspects of the project. They questioned whether local opposition has held up the project. We informed them people in five out of seven villages are in favour of the project”, Patnaik told reporters after talks with the Korean media team.

Besides, he told the team members that though the project was six years old, the final forest clearance for it was received only recently. On renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Posco India, he said, “The revised MoU with Posco India is currently being scrutinized by the law department.”

The South Korean steel major had signed MoU with the Orissa government on June 22, 2005 and the pact had lapsed on June 21 last year.