Orissa Government expected South Korean steelmaker POSCO to start work on its project in April next year and said it will begin socio-economic survey of the proposed plant site soon.
BHUBANESWAR: Orissa Government on Saturday expected South Korean steelmaker POSCO to start work on its project in April next year and said it will begin socio-economic survey of the proposed plant site soon.
State Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the government would like to see that construction work of the POSCO project started on April 1 in a peaceful environment.
"We want POSCO to come up as per schedule," Patnaik said in reply to queries on what steps were being taken to implement the Rs 52,000 crore prorject amid the violence.
Advocating 'peaceful industrialization', Patnaik said he had asked the district administration of Jagatsinghpur to maintain peace as the government would like to see the steel plant to certainly come up in the state.
Maintaining that the POSCO project was the biggest ever Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country, Patnaik said the project would generate a good amount of revenue as well as employment for the local people. Therefore, the project was vital for the development of the state, he said.
On the South Korean company's deadline of April 1, the chief minister said while the day was being observed as Utkal Diwas in Orissa, it coincides with 50th anniversary of POSCO.
"As the day (April-1) is significant for both Orissa and the South Korean steel major, we want ground breaking ceremony being to be held on that date," Patnaik said, adding that the government was keeping a close watch on the development at the proposed steel plant site.
As part of preparatory work for physical construction, plans are afoot to begin socio-economic survey at the site next week in view of marked decline in opposition to the project, according to the nodal officer for the POSCO-India project, Priyabrat Patnaik.
He pointed out that officials as well as police were so far unable to enter the area due to stiff resistance from a section of villagers. But now, majority of people understood that the project would be beneficial for them.
Patnaik said although the government had identified 4,004 acres of land for POSCO's 12 million tons per year Greenfield project, it was yet to demarcate the land spread over three gram panchayats of Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gada Kujang in Ersama block in Jagatsinghpur district.
He said besides undertaking socio-economic survey, the government would also like to construct transit homes and other facilities for the people who would be rehabilitated due to the project.
"The government has already acquired 10.02 acre of land at Badagabapur village near Kujang for rehabilitation colony for displaced people," said Steel and Mines Minister, Padmanabha Behera.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}