Posco may increase Orissa plant investment by 20%

South Korean steel major Posco, which is facing protests of the locals over land acquisition for its 12 million tonne steel project in Orissa, may revise project cost upward by 20 per cent due to inordinate delay in getting the project off the ground.

“The investment amount was decided according to the prices and scenario prevailing in 2005. But now we have to change it. The cost may go up by 20 percent due to time lapse. We will come out with actual figure within two-three months,” Ho Chan Ryu, deputy managing director of Posco-India said during a seminar at Paradip.

Initially, the company had proposed to invest $12 billion to set up a 12-million-tonne per year steel plant near Paradip in Orissa, billed as the biggest foreign direct investment in India so far.