Orissa may soon acquire land for Posco

Not wanting to lag behind Karnataka, which is aggressively wooing large investments and has even cleared an ArcelorMittal steel project within a fortnight, Orissa is planning to acquire land for the Rs 51,000-crore Posco project, which has been pending since 2005.

Following a two-day review meeting of the many pending mega steel projects by state steel and mines secretary AK Dalwai last weekend, the state administration has decided to work towards acquiring the necessary land for the state's largest industrial project in the Kujang area next month, but excluding the two trouble-hit villages, officials said here today.

The state-run Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IIDC) will start the land acquisition process soon, the sources in the know of the development said, adding however, the company has been asked to go ahead without the Dhinkia and Gobindpur villages where a movement against land acquisition is on.

"I don't see any harm in beginning ground work at the proposed plant site without Dhinkia and Gobindpur," IIDC chief general manager Srikant Kabi told PTI here today.

Kabi also said land acquisition in other villages will not be a problem after getting environmental clearance from the Centre for setting up the 12-mtpa greenfield steel mill and its captive port at Jatadhari. The Posco project is the single largest FDI proposal so far in the country.