Odisha CM assures swift redresssal of big project problems
Naveen Patnaik, chief minister of Odisha, has assured swift resolution of all problems plaguing big ticket projects in the state through a slew of measures and resolutions.
In a path breaking development, Naveen Patnaik declared the state’s resolve to sort out and fix all issues related to big projects located in the state. This comes on the back of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance to his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye regarding the fast tracking of the Posco project in the state.
According to Patnaik, all problems plaguing big projects would be resolved soon especially after the Prime Minister’s assurance to the South Korean President relating to the Posco project. Though Patnaik remained tight lipped about the controversially delayed project which has been in limbo for 10 years, he did sound a positive message for investors and big businesses.
The MoU between Posco and the Odisha state government was initially signed in June, 2005. This mainly pertained to the setting up of a 12mtpa steel mill with a total investment of INR 52, 000 crore which was then labelled as the single biggest volume of foreign investment or FDI in India. However, the project seems to have been stuck in a quagmire since then.
Patnaik’s official statements in this situation are of immense importance owing to issues faced by Vedanta and Posco in Odisha. Raw material linkage is proving to be the biggest problem faced by both companies in the state. The Khandadhar iron ore reserve has yet to grant a prospecting license to Posco while raw material for Vedanta’s big project has been a sore point post the failure of the state’s bauxite mining endeavour in Kalahandi’s Niyamgiri hills. However, the chief minister has provided an assurance to Vedanta group chief Anil Agarwal with regard to raw material supplies in recent times.
The Prime Minister has also assured full support for the establishment of the Posco mega steel plant in Odisha on the sidelines of the Korea-India summit held at Mynamar as a backdrop to the ASEAN meet. The state government has also recommended a prospecting license for Posco India with regard to commencing mining operations in the Khandadahar iron ore reserve situated in Odisha’s Sundargarh district. The Centre had earlier rejected Posco’s proposals according to Prafulla Kumar Mallick, the Odisha Steel and Mines Minister. According to him, the revised recommendations have been sent to the Centre with regard to the granting of prospecting licenses for the specified area of 2, 083 hectares in the iron ore deposit area.
Source:
The Economic Times
Memorandum of understanding (MoU), MoU, Naveen Patnaik, Odisha state government, Odisha’s Sundargarh district, project problems
