Posco project hangs between 'to be' and 'not to be'

Orissa's mega steel project Posco has slipped into a situation of Shakespeare's 'To be, or not to be' with the Union environment minister putting a halt to forest clearance.

Though Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is still hopeful about the 'dream' project pulling through, not many share his optimism given the spate of controversies that the Rs 52,000 crore project has attracted.

''It's a million dollar question about a 12-billion dollar project. The manner in which the project is facing frequent setbacks, only time will determine its fate,'' said All Orissa Steel Federation president P L Kandoi.

Kandoi felt that the state government should first provide raw materials to companies coming to the state. ''Posco will not invest unless it gets raw material linkage,'' he said.

However, Orissa's steel and industries minister Raghunath Mohanty is very confident that the Posco will drop anchor at Paradip.

''We are confident that Posco will be able to set up its unit near Paradip,'' he said rejecting speculation, though he was unsure of how to proceed on overcoming the many hurdles that lay on the road.

The South Korean steel major, which signed an MoU with the state government on June 22, 2005, is still waiting for a piece of land to set up its 12mtpa greenfield steel mill.

According to provisions of the MoU, the company was to complete the first phase of 6mtpa capacity unit by July 2010 by investing Rs 10,100 crore.

Both Orissa government and the company had agreed that the facility would be commissioned by July, 2010 or 36 months from the date of taking title and possession of land.