BangaloreThe Karnataka government is set to engage South Korean steel maker Posco in discussions early this week over its proposed steel plant in the state that has now been stalled. The process of acquiring 3,382 acre for the plant in Karnataka's Gadag district had been halted by chief minister BS Yeddyurappa last week under pressure from protests by farmers unwilling to sell their land and religious seers. The government will watch...

-DNA   Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa on Friday said that POSCO plant would not come to Gadag district without farmers’ consent. Speaking in Hubli where he arrived for a two-day state BJP executive meet, Yeddyurappa reiterated that only if the seers and farmers arrived at a “consensus” on setting up of the project, he would consider the project’s implementation in the district. “The Rs30,000-crore steel project by Korean major POSCO will...

-DNA   The drama surrounding the proposed Posco steel plant in Halligudi, Gadag district, took another twist on Thursday when representatives of farmers, under the banner ‘Raitha Hitharakshana Samiti’, handed over letters signed by 375 farmers stating that they were ready to part with their land for the plant. Somashekarappa Eerappa Channalli, who spearheaded the group, said the protests against the plant were politically motivated. “The reality is that many farmers are...

-IANS   South Korean giant Posco's plan to set up a six million tonnes per annum steel plant in Karnataka is in doldrums with the state government dropping plans to acquire land, in the face of opposition from farmers and religious leaders. "Even if the farmers agree to give land, we will not acquire it in Gadag district," Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters Thursday. "If Posco is interested in setting...

  THERE is money on offer, but the farmers of Halligudi, a hamlet of 5,500 people in Karnataka's Gadag district, are hardly happy at the prospect of 3,382 acres (one acre is 0.4 hectare) of farmland being acquired for a Rs.32,336-crore steel plant south of National Highway 63, which runs between Karwar and Bellary. The plant is to be set up by the Indian subsidiary of the South Korean steel major Posco...