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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Supreme Court raises Posco hopes on iron ore- Gaurav Jain and Ruchira Singh

Supreme Court raises Posco hopes on iron ore- Gaurav Jain and Ruchira Singh

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published Published on May 11, 2013   modified Modified on May 11, 2013
-Live Mint


Court says government should decide allocation of captive mine; move could lead to protests by rival steel makers

New Delhi/Mumbai: A Supreme Court (SC) order on Friday raised the prospect that Posco's showcase $12 billion (`65,400 crore today) steel project in Orissa, stalled for at least six years, could be allocated a captive iron ore mine, but experts said such a move could lead to protests by other firms that the South Korean company was being singled out for special treatment.

The apex court set aside a ruling of the Orissa high court againstPosco and said the Union government would decide if the firm can have preferential access to an iron ore mine for its plant, providing a boost to the troubled project billed as India's largest foreign direct investment, Reuters reported on Friday.

But a steel firm executive and an analyst said other steel makers would step up pressure on the government for allocations of their own captive iron ore mines in the resources-starved country.

"All of the top steel companies' plants are at a much more advanced stage than Posco (in Orissa)," said Rakesh Arora , managing director and head of research at Macquarie Capital Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd . "They are bound to say ‘you can't give one mine in isolation'."

Even though the government is favourably disposed towards the project as it would serve as a sentiment booster for foreign investors, the actual decision to allocate an iron ore mine to Posco is unlikely to be a quick one, Arora said. The Posco matter may become a contentious one with no bureaucrat willing to take on the risk of criticism from the industry, he added.

Tata Steel Ltd is building a 6 million tonne (mt) steel plant in Kalinganagar in Orissa and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) is building a 6 mt plant in Angul. Both have been promised mines, but have not been allocated any yet, an analyst said.

"The companies that have already spent thousands of crores of rupees should be given preference for iron ore mines first," said V.R. Sharma, deputy managing director and chief executive (steel business) at JSPL. "Those who have promised to spend money should be last in the queue." Given the scarcity of iron ore, the government should ideally devise a benchmark and allocate the mines to those that have moved ahead with their projects, Sharma said.

Posco India spokesperson I.G. Lee did not comment.

Two mines ministry officials said it was not immediately clear who will take the final decision on the Supreme Court's order. "Supreme Court must have taken cognizance of the fact that the ministry of mines has to vet the lease proposals sent by the state for prior approval in case of major minerals, which is why they have left the final decision on the central government," one senior official in the ministry said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the protest against land acquisition for Posco's steel plant project in Jagatsingpur district of Orissa continues unabated.

"We are against mining, against Posco, against the SEZ (special economic zone)," Prashant Paikray, convenor of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, said over the phone from Bhubaneswar. "We also don't want to give our water from the area to the company."

Even if the government gives Posco the go-ahead, the group won't stop its struggle against the company, Paikray said. "We don't want the tribals to be displaced and we will keep fighting for their rights," he said.

Posco's stock pared losses in Seoul after the news of the ruling, ending 1.24% down in a wider Seoul market that closed 1.8% lower, theReuters report said. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is a shareholder in Posco.

India has about 500 iron ore mines, with most of them held by small private companies and a few captive mines belonging to the likes of Steel Authority of India Ltd and Tata Steel. In the last two years, illegal mining in Karnataka and Goa has seen the Supreme Court restrict and ban mining activity.

Reuters and Neha Sethi from New Delhi contributed to this story.


Live Mint, 10 May, 2013, http://www.livemint.com/Politics/TSNO43JQ4bGRcxSWOsMD1M/SC-says-Centre-to-decide-on-giving-iron-ore-licence-to-Posco.html


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