Orissa Govt responsible for non-implementation of Posco: BJP

Opposition BJP today blamed Orissa Government for non-implementation of the Rs 51,000 crore POSCO steel plant project.

"Both POSCO and Vedanta projects face trouble due to the directionless policy of the state government headed by Naveen Patnaik," BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra told reporters here.

Both the projects could have been implemented, had the government acted in accordance with the law of the land, he said, adding, "hidden agenda" and "secretive nature" of the state government had led to a situation where no one was sure whether the POSCO project could ever be implemented.

Though an MoU between POSCO-India and the state government was signed on June 22, 2005, the project could still not come up, as the state government wanted to keep everything under the wrap, he said.

The South Korean steel major's first phase of the steel plant was scheduled to be commissioned in 2010 as per the original plan. However, five years since the MoU, the company was yet to acquire an inch of land for the purpose of building the steel plant.

"The people of the locality were not taken into confidence by the government before identifying their villages as the proposed plant site. This apart, the state government also preferred to violate forest rights acts, forest conservation act and other laws for no specific reasons," he said.

Even as BJP, among other non-BJD political parties, was opposed to POSCO project since begining, Mohapatra said "even bitter critics of the government want POSCO project in Orissa. We are opposed to certain clauses in the MoU like mining lease, a captive port and the proposed project site. These issues should be properly addressed to end opposition."

The BJP leader also blamed the Centre for according environment clearance to the POSCO project in 2007 without properly studying environment impact.

Lack of transparency was the reason behind delay in implementation of the big ticket investments in the state, he added.