<p>Optimistic of acquiring the remaining 700 acres of land for the proposed Posco steel project near Paradip, the Odisha government on Tuesday said it was all set to enter into a tripartite agreement for establishment of the greenfield plant.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“We will soon sign a tripartite agreement with Posco-India and Posco as the earlier MoU with the steel major has already lapsed,” Chief Secretary B K Patnaik told mediapersons after meeting a delegation of the South Korean steel major.<br /><br />A delegation led by Posco-India’s deputy managing director H Chan Ryu met the chief secretary and other senior state government officials to discuss on the progress of the project. The discussion was mostly on land acquisition and environmental clearance.<br /><br />While company officials did not divulge any information about the discussion, Patnaik said the state government was trying to acquire the remaining 700 acre of land as required by Posco-India to start construction work at the proposed plant site.<br /><br />Though the state government had so far acquired 2,000 acres of land for the purpose, the company wanted 700 more acres for beginning construction work for setting up a 8 MTPA steel mill near Paradip.<br /><br />Both the state government and Posco-India had meanwhile agreed to downsize capacity of the project from 12 MTPA to 8 MTPA due to non-availability of required 4,004 acres of land. They also agreed to start construction of the project over at least 2,700 acres of land by end of the year.<br /><br />The state owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO), sources said, was all set to start land acquisition process in a fortnight. <br /><br />“We want to acquire the remaining 700 acre of land in a peaceful manner after taking consent of the local people,” Patnaik said adding the state government was hopeful of getting people’s cooperation in this regard.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the state government had suggested to the company to expedite work for getting environmental clearance for the project. </p>
<p>Optimistic of acquiring the remaining 700 acres of land for the proposed Posco steel project near Paradip, the Odisha government on Tuesday said it was all set to enter into a tripartite agreement for establishment of the greenfield plant.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“We will soon sign a tripartite agreement with Posco-India and Posco as the earlier MoU with the steel major has already lapsed,” Chief Secretary B K Patnaik told mediapersons after meeting a delegation of the South Korean steel major.<br /><br />A delegation led by Posco-India’s deputy managing director H Chan Ryu met the chief secretary and other senior state government officials to discuss on the progress of the project. The discussion was mostly on land acquisition and environmental clearance.<br /><br />While company officials did not divulge any information about the discussion, Patnaik said the state government was trying to acquire the remaining 700 acre of land as required by Posco-India to start construction work at the proposed plant site.<br /><br />Though the state government had so far acquired 2,000 acres of land for the purpose, the company wanted 700 more acres for beginning construction work for setting up a 8 MTPA steel mill near Paradip.<br /><br />Both the state government and Posco-India had meanwhile agreed to downsize capacity of the project from 12 MTPA to 8 MTPA due to non-availability of required 4,004 acres of land. They also agreed to start construction of the project over at least 2,700 acres of land by end of the year.<br /><br />The state owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO), sources said, was all set to start land acquisition process in a fortnight. <br /><br />“We want to acquire the remaining 700 acre of land in a peaceful manner after taking consent of the local people,” Patnaik said adding the state government was hopeful of getting people’s cooperation in this regard.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the state government had suggested to the company to expedite work for getting environmental clearance for the project. </p>