Orissa to comply centre on POSCO project in a week: Chief secretary

Apparently anxious to implement the country's biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the state, Orissa government today said it would submit compliance report to the Centre on the POSCO project within a week, official sources said.

While giving conditional clearance to POSCO's steel plant, captive power and port on January 31, the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) had sought categorical assurance from Naveen Patnaik government that Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, was not violated in the land acquisition process for the Rs 51,000 crore project.

The union environment minister Jairam Ramesh also put 60 conditions besides seeking assurance on FRA, 2006 while clearing the project.

"We will submit compliance report with Centre on POSCO project within one week," chief secretary BK Patnaik told reporters in Bhubaneswar adding that the state government's views on the non-tribal forest dwellers in the proposed plant site villages remained unchanged.

The state government had earlier apprised Centre that there was no tribal living in the proposed plant site villages in Ersama block in Jagatsinghpur thus justifying that tribal rights were not violated in the process of land acquisition.

Regarding the non-tribal forest dwellers, the state government maintained a view that no one in the proposed plant site areas had been in possession of the land since 75 years.

"As no family in the proposed plant site villages is in possession of land for 75 years, the FRA, 2006 will not be applicable here," a senior minister said.

Meanwhile, the nodal officer for the POSCo-India project, Priyabrat Patnaik said: "We are hopeful that the centre will accord final clearance to the project before end of this month. We may start land acquisition process as soon as the final clearance is accorded."