Odisha puts Posco ball in centre's court

Odisha Industry Minister Devi Prasad Mishra on Wednesday said that the central government will take a call over the $12 billion Posco steel project in the state.

He said that the state government is in discussion with the central government to resolve the impediments arising out of the proposed steel project in Odisha.

"The central government has to take a call over the issue. Now, the ball is in centre's court," Mishra told mediapersons here.

He also said that the Odisha government has no information about Posco backing out from the steel project proposed to be set up in Jagatsinghpur district.

With the company struggling to get raw material to feed the plant, Mishra said the state government is in discussion with the central government over the issue to resolve the bottlenecks.

Affirming the state's commitment to set up the steel project, he said the government is ready to provide raw materials to Posco through state PSU Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).

Meanwhile, several Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on Wednesday.

BJD MP Kalikesh Singhdeo said Jaitley was apprised about the Posco issue and he assured to look into the matter positively.

Senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra said the state government should discuss the issue with the central government instead of blaming Modi government for the raw material linkage problem.

It is to be noted that steel giant Posco has signed an agreement with Uttam Steel and Power to do a feasibility study to set up a 3 million tonne per annum (MTPA) integrated steel plant in Maharashtra.

The Odisha project of Posco has stuck in a decade-long regulatory quagmire starting from land acquisition to getting raw material linkage to the proposed plant.

The South Korean company had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government in 2005.