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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Our project grounded, how can we commit Rs 3,000 cr to CSR: Posco by Priyadarshi Siddhanta

Our project grounded, how can we commit Rs 3,000 cr to CSR: Posco by Priyadarshi Siddhanta

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published Published on Jan 6, 2011   modified Modified on Jan 6, 2011
Its project hanging fire, South Korean steel giant Posco has objected to the Ministry of Environment and Forest’s (MoEF’s) recommendation that the company should submit a “detail time-bound” schedule for spending at least 5 per cent of its total project cost or about Rs 3,000 crore towards welfare activities in the project area in Orissa.

Although Posco expressed willingness to earmark funds for CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities, it pointed out that no work on the project had started although a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with the Orissa state government over five years ago.

In a December 22 letter to the MoEF, Posco said: “This would be a huge cost considering the fact that the project has not taken off. We have been waiting for five years.”

The letter, a copy of which was sent to T K A Nair, Principal Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office, noted that Posco would set aside a “part of the profit” for CSR programmes when the project becomes operational.

On November 23, the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the MoEF had recommended that Posco spend at least 5 per cent of its total project cost of Rs 54,000 crore towards CSR. “Item-wise details of expenditure proposed on specific need-based programmes identified towards this end with time-bound execution schedules shall be prepared and submitted to the ministry’s regional office at Bhubaneswar,” according to the minutes of the EAC meeting.

In its reply, Posco underlined the fact that its green clearances were nowhere in sight. It reiterated its commitment to comply with all community programmes stipulated in a 2007 MoEF order. In that order, the ministry did not put a figure to the CSR spend.

The Posco letter also expressed anxiety over “stoppage of work at the project site” following the MoEF move to review the clearances granted to the proposed 12-million-tonne integrated steel project. “It may be kindly appreciated that due to non-completion of the land acquisition process, no work has started at the site so far. Hence the question of any violation or non-compliance does not arise,” it said.

All clarifications by both the state government and the company have been provided in the EAC’s review meetings, it added.

In its letter, Posco also urged the MoEF to treat the plant and the port as a single unit. Stating the project was conceived as a port-based steel plant, Posco said that the two aspects have to be seen in unison. “Any change in plan or partial clearance would render the project unviable,” Posco said.

The Indian Express, 6 January, 2011, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Our-project-grounded--how-can-we-commit-Rs-3-000-cr-to-CSR--Posco/733996


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