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Following is from a report in Economic Times.

What’s in it for the locals?

Asit Swain, who lives in Nawagaam, one of the affected panchayats, told ET that the compensation package has been finalised. Farmers will get Rs 11,500 for every decimal (one-tenth of an acre) of betel vine plantations and Rs 18 lakh for every acre where two crops can be grown in a year.

Those growing cashew or farming prawns on government land (without land titles) will get Rs 2 lakh per acre. As for the landless,they will get Rs 2,250 per month till they find employment. They will also get a sum, added Swain, equal to a fifth of what the betel vine cultivators and farmers get.

In addition, two months ago, Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa (Ipicol) recommended a new clause be added to the MoU stipulating that 90% of the unskilled and semiskilled workers, 60% of the skilled workers and 30% of the managerial posts in the project be hired from the local community.

What’s in it for Posco?

Clearly, the project continues to be hugely lucrative for Posco, which is why the company is staying on despite all these delays. The company will get a guaranteed supply of iron ore for at least 30 years, a commodity, whose prices have soared 43% since the beginning of last year.

From recent news that are coming out (see for example,  http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/anti-posco-brigade-hit-hard-by-defectionvillagers/434888/ ) it seems like the POSCO project will now sail through.

With that assumption, I suggest that the government take better care of the people that are being displaced and keeps it focus on the "From mineral resources to Human resources" theme.

To take better care of the displaced people:

(a) the government must have a mechanism to ensure that the compensation paid to the people is not blown away in a year or 2 and the displaced people have nothing to fall back on. Some approaches such as annuity payments for part of the compensation and making the people a shareholder of the plant with specialized shares, which can not be sold immediately, need to be considered. In addition the R & R must include the education of all kids (of displaced people) in decent schools (DAV type), similar to what Vedanta University Project was/is(?) doing in Puri.

To address the "mineral resources to Human resources" goal:

(b) the government must insist that POSCO establish in Odisha a significant branch (or a similar institute) of its top ranked (in research) university POSTECH of S. Korea. This is the least they can and should do for being assured of raw minerals at a low low price.

(c) the government must insist that POSCO establish more of its ancillaries in Odisha itself rather than in other states.

Following article titled ” `Rahul hand behind POSCO, Vedanta mess’ – Cong counters BJD charge” is from Times of India Bhubaneswar edition. Thanks to HM for bringing this to our notice and sending it to us.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pragativadi.

The Supreme Court on Friday permitted South Korean steel major Posco to set up Rs 51,000-crore mega steel plant and captive minor port at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.

A special environmental bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan allowed Posco India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of South Korea-based Posco, to go ahead with its plans.

With this order, the apex court has also cleared forest diversion proposal for the plant site which require 1253.225 hectares of forest land.

The court, while directing the Orissa government to dispose of all the Posco’s applications seeking prospecting licences within four weeks, also asked the state government to send its recommendations to the ministry of environment and forests that would proceed in accordance with law.

The bench also asked the state government to undertake implementation of compensatory afforestation plan under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed committee comprising top officials of the state government.

… Posco counsel Mukul Rohtagi contended that the state government-owned Orissa Mining Corporation had agreed to supply uninterrupted iron ore and other minerals for its steel project and had identified mines in the western part of the state, some 300 km away from its project site.

… The company can source raw materials on its own and can buy the same from the open market, he said, adding that the company is not dependent on prospecting licence.