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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Orissa fails to keep date with revised MoU with Posco by Nageshwar Patnaik

Orissa fails to keep date with revised MoU with Posco by Nageshwar Patnaik

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published Published on Aug 2, 2011   modified Modified on Aug 2, 2011

The Orissa government has failed to keep its commitment for renewal of the revised MoU with Posco-India Ltd for setting up 12-million ton steel plant near Paradip by July end as the South Korean company has not agreed to certain conditions in the revised MoU.

Even as the tenure of the previous MoU expired on June 21, 2010, the state government had gone on acquiring land for the proposed steel plant billed as largest FDI in the country.

"I had announced that the MoU with Posco-India will be renewed by July end. In the past too, we had failed to meet previous deadlines. I have now become a liar as Posco-India has not yet responded to our amended MoU draft", Orissa steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty said here.

The state government had signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Posco-India, a subsidiary of South Korean steel major Posco, on June 22, 2005. Even more than six years after, the steel major had not been able to acquire an inch of land for the purpose of setting up the Rs 52,000 crore mega steel project near Paradip.

In fact, Orissa government in June had announced to renew its MoU ith steel major Posco with a one-year retrospective effect by June 30th. However, the dates for the revised MoU signing ceremony could not be fixed due to delay by Posco in responding to the draft revised MoU.

One of the key points in the expired MoU was the swapping of iron ore which has been excluded in the revised MoU, sources said.

In the first MoU signed between Posco and Orissa government on June 22, 2005, there was a provision which said "The Company may swap certain quantities (not exceeding 30% of the total requirement for the Paradeep Plant annually) of such iron ore which have high alumina content with equal quantity of low alumina content iron ore of equivalent or better Fe content imported for blending, in order to produce better quality steel in the Paradip Project and conserve energy".

No export of iron ore by Posco will be allowed from the captive mine except by way of full replacement through import of equal quantity of high grade ore and within the limits mentioned above, the MoU had said.

The MoU to be renewed with Posco India is understood to have incorporated the revised project plan proposed by the South Korean company and also the mandatory employment clause of the Orissa government. The employment clause of the state government stipulates that industries setting up their projects in the state have to reserve 90% jobs for locals in the unskilled and semi-skilled category, up to 60% in skilled category and 30% for the supervisory and managerial cadre, while giving them the option to fill up the post of senior executives from the open market.

The exclusion of the provision for swapping of iron ore as Posco in the revised MoU follows categorical advise by former union minister for environment and forest Jairma Ramesh to do away with the provision of the iron ore export while according to the final forest clearance for the project on May 2.

The steel major has sought 600 million tons of iron ore of an average Fe content of 62%, to meet the requirements of the proposed Steel Plant. The South Korean company has proposed to set up their 12 million ton per annum (mtpa) steel plant in three phases of four mtpa each instead of four phases (three mtpa in each phase) as provided in the previous MoU.

The South Korean company is still mulling over the state government's mandatory employment provision of reserving jobs for the local youths and implementation of the state government's Resettlement and Rehabilitation [R&R] policy in toto. Besides, Posco-India is understood to have reserved its views on the controversial iron ore export clause. It may agree to bring down the quantity of export as it would adopt Finex technology for steel making which would not require high grade iron ore in toto, sources pointed out.

According to provisions of the lapsed MoU, the South Korean steel major would export 30% of its iron ore requirement and import an equal quantity of raw material. Another reason for delay in renewing the MoU could be Posco's recent proposal to set up 12 mtpa capacity steel facility in different phases and different modules.

"One has to calculate the amount of raw materials and water requirement for each phase," the official pointed out.

Meanwhile, union minister for statistics and programme implementation [independent charge] and fertilizers and chemicals has asked the state government not to acquire the land for Posco project till the Land Acquisition Bill is passed by the Parliament.

The Economic Times, 1 August, 2011, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods-/-svs/steel/orissa-fails-to-keep-date-with-revised-mou-with-posco/articleshow/9443399.cms


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