A host of steel-manufacturing units are keen to set up plants in Karnataka, and all want captive mines. SOUTH KOREA'S Posco is not the only steel-maker keen to do business in Karnataka. The State's estimated 9,000 million tonnes of good-quality iron ore reserves, which is the second largest in India, the State government's assurances on a smooth land acquisition process, the availability of water and the promise of speedy regulatory clearances...

-The Deccan Herald "Law is misused for business interests." There is reason for serious concern over the aggressive acquisition of farm land by the Karnataka government on behalf of corporates. It has notified 3,382 acres in Halligudi in Gadag district where Korean steel giant Posco proposes to set up a 6 million tonne per annum integrated steel plant and a 450-mw captive power plant. Farmers in the area, whose lands have been...

Batting for a Posco steel plant in Gadag, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa says the government will try to persuade farmers to part with their land. The situation does not warrant the South Korean steelmaker to relocate from Halligudi in Gadag district to anywhere rlse in the state. "The government is trying to convince the farmers; the company stays in Gadag. We hope that everything will go well,'' he told...

The groundswell of public opinion is firmly against South Korean steelmaker Posco. Of the 536 farmers whose lands are to be acquired for the proposed Rs 32,000-crore integrated steel plant, 365 have said a clear 'no' . Just 25 farmers have agreed to hand over land provided they are paid a compensation of Rs 25 lakh per acre. The proposed compensation could be between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 8...

The sight on television was heartbreaking: children lying in rows in the searing sun to be human shields against the takeover of their land for Korean giant POSCO’s mega bucks project. Facing them were armed police sent by the state government to assist in the operation. The steel plant and port project, located in a coastal district of Odisha, has been in a six-year-long eyeball-to-eyeball battle with people whose land will...