1,880 acres allotted to Posco cancelled by Odisha Govt

After facing turbulent times for 12 years, the state government finally brought the curtain down on the much-hyped mega Posco steel project as it cancelled the 1880 acres of land allotted to the South Korean company. The Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (idco), state's nodal agency for land acquisition, has intimated to the Posco company the government's decision to withdraw the land allotted for setting up the 12 mtpa capacity steel plant. Though Idco in its letter sent to the company on Thursday cited 'land not put to use' as the reason behind the government's decision, sources said the South Korean steel behemoth, sensing that the project had little chance of taking off, had in February informed the government its willingness to surrender the entire land. The government's decision communicated to the company is widely seen here as end of the Posco high drama that began with a bang and ended with a whimper. The MoU between Posco and the state government for establishment of the 12 mtpa steel plant with an investment of Rs 52,000 crore, what was then billed as India's biggest FDI, was signed on June 22, 2005. The project ran into rough weather with every passing day. While agitation by local villagers refusing to part with the land continued unabated, the project faced problems like getting iron ore mining lease and protests by social activists on environment issues and alternative livelihood for the thousands of people dependent on the area for fishing and crops. If talks in the corridors of power are any indication, the government is planning to reallot the land to some other prospective investor. One of the names doing the rounds most is JSW, which sources said is interested to set up a 10 mtpa capacity steel plant there. The speculation gained currency after JSW CMD Sajjan Jindal met chief secretary.