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Daily Pioneer reporter Kahnu Nanda reports that situation is turning in favour of POSCO in the Kujang Block. The Article is reproduced below:

“Days after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asserted that the mega greenfield steel plant by South Korean steel major Posco will be established at Kujang and that construction work would start from April 1, 2008, Posco has reiterated its commitment to the project.

An overwhelming section of people living in the proposed project site areas, including representatives of several political parties, social activists and local senior citizens, are moving fast to garner support for the project’s implementation.

Reports indicate that several meetings and campaigning has been held in project site at village level in the past week in a bid to woo the locals in the project’s favour.

Different project sympathisers have been organising these pro-Posco meetings and Ersama MLA and former Minister Damodar Rout has proposed to organise a mass public meeting in Balitutha Hat on October 27 just at a stone’s throw distance from the project opponents’ road block over Balitutha Bridge since September 24.

Sources said that a pro- Posco meeting was organised under the leadership of former PS member Jiban Lal Behera and the meeting was attended by most of habitants and discussed the Posco issues at length.

The senior villagers, attending the meeting too opined setting up of the project and unanimously resolve requesting the Posco authorities to reopen its closed Kujang office immediately.

Meanwhile, Ranjan Das a social activist and native of Polang, an affected village for the project, arranged a meeting in village on Tuesday in a move to garner support for Posco.

The Chief Minister’s endeavours to have a dialogue with project opposition groups had described a salutary effort while the villagers emphasised that the Posco authorities need to directly interact with the affected people for land acquisitions, Askhya Das, a villager revealed.

The political atmosphere in the project sites of Gadakujang, Dhinkia, Nuagaon, Chatua, Balitutha and Bamadeipur villages saw a startling incident on Tuesday when one Dhruba Charana Muduli, a social activist had called an all party meeting in Gadakujanga to discuss the Posco stalemate.

The meeting was attended by most of the members of different political parties of the locality excluding Leftists.

In the meeting a decision was taken to form an all party co ordination committee taking members from different political parties to hold dialogue with the State Government, the district administration and the Posco authorities to sort out the project obstacles, informed a member of a major political party.

Meanwhile, sources said that a similar type of meeting had been organised in Govindpur village under the leadership of Nirvay Samantray and project sympathiser Tamil Pradhan had conducted a meting in his Nuagaon village on Wednesday.

However, reports said that most of Posco supported leaders at the proposed project site villages have been organising meetings and campaigning to bring a pro attitude since the Chief Minister and Posco agreed for the project inception last week.

Ersama legislator Damodar Rout ,who was keeping distance from Posco related issues earlier has started organising mass contact campaigning with a message against anti -Posco sentiments in project site villages.

However, Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) who is spearheading the anti-Posco movement since one year vowed to oppose the project tooth to nail and refused to act on the Chief Minister’s desire of a dialogue.

According to them the project would wipe out 11 villages and affect around 20,000 habitants therefore no industry should not be set up at the cost of agricultural lands that threatens to take away the livelihood of people.

Abhaya Sahoo, PPSS chairman slammed the State Government for being insensible towards the affected locals, and also threatened of not giving one inch of land for the Posco project. He blamed the local leaders for organising pro Posco meetings in their areas under the influence and getting financial supports from Posco.”

Following is an excerpt from a report in newkerala.com on this.

Indian Navy was planning to develop an air enclave at Bhubaneswar for its aircraft, Commodore MVS Kumar, Naval Officer in Charge of Orissa said here today.

The Commanding Officer of INS Chilika, while briefing the press on the Navy Week by INS Chilika, said the Navy had already approached the state government for five acre of land for the purpose and the Chief Minister had responded very positively.

In addition, a plan was also mooted to develop 20 acre of land lying at Paradeep to provide logistic support to naval ships, he said.

The Commanding Officer of INS Chilika said a week long sailing workshop-cum-Chilika Lake Mouth Sailing Expedition would be organised for youths from November 11 to 18 to promote adventure sports in the state.

The state department for Youth Affairs and Sports had selected 100 youths from all over the state to participate in the workshop.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

Bhubaneswar-Cuttack and neighbouring towns will be developed into a greater urban complex of international standards catering to the needs of 42 lakh people by 2030.

The final perspective plan to this effect was presented to chief minister Naveen Patnaik here today by a team from IIT, Kharagpur. B.K. Sengupta, heading the team, said the comprehensive development plan for Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Choudwar, Khurda and Jatni would be ready by August 2008.

Subsequently, development plans would be prepared for places like Rourkela, Puri, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Talcher-Angul, Kalinga Nagar and Jharsuguda industrial complex, said state urban development minister K.V. Singhdeo.

The final perspective plan has envisaged comprehensive development of a greater urban complex comprising twin cities of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack and three adjoining towns spread over 721sqkm at an estimated cost of Rs 34,000 crore.

The required funds would be mobilised through public-private partnership, central government and state government and community contribution, said the urban development minister.

While 11 special zones have been earmarked for extensive development, four have been identified for intensive development and three places (Old Bhubaneswar, Choudwar and Old Cuttack) having heritage value have been set aside for restricted development. Seven sensitive pockets have also been identified.

A patch of farmland on the east of the Kuakhai flowing near Bhubaneswar has also been earmarked for agriculture. The final perspective plan has dwelt on various aspects like transport, traffic decongestion, upgrade of road system, slum development and drainage. Construction of overhead bridges and bypass and the upgrade of road systems have also been planned.

Drainage and sewerage development has also been planned in the twin cities.

A solid waste management plant has been proposed in Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar-Cuttack would be made slum-free. The shanties would be removed and the dwellers would be resettled in planned rehabilitation colonies to be built by private builders on the Dharavi model in Mumbai.

The following is extracted from an ndtvprofit.com report.

• The state government, Posco agreed to April 1 deadline as the date was significant for both Orissa and the steel major. It is observed as ‘Utkal Divas’ and also the anniversary of Posco, Lee said.
• During the discussion, Patnaik pointed out that 512 acres of government land had already been sanctioned to Posco, while 3,000 acres of forest land was cleared by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), official sources said.

  Posco required 4,004 acres near Paradip to set up its proposed 12 mtpa capacity steel mill which had been facing opposition from the local people. “Though land was ready for handover to Posco, this could not be done in the face of stiff opposition from the local people,” they said.

• Patnaik said the state government would complete hearing of all applications for Khandadhar mines in Sundargarh district by November, sources said.

  Orissa government had already recommended the name of the South Korean company for the Prospecting Licence (PL), they said.

• Patnaik urged Lee to immediately commence construction of transit accommodation for the displaced people and a training center for imparting technical education to local youths so that they could be provided with jobs in future.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Statesman.

The state forest department has embarked on a project to renovate a unique Victorian-structured marvel as a part of its eco-tourism package in the internationally acclaimed Bhitarkanika Ramsar wetland site.

The 141-year-old sprawling Hukitola building, which carries the proof of excellent British architectural skill with rainwater harvesting system, has finally drawn the attention of the government agencies after it was neglected for years.

“The gigantic structure on the Mahanadi deltaic region has been taken up for maintenance by the department. We are going to have a forest watch tower there. To promote tourism, we will have boats to carry people from the Paradip port town. The place nestled in the deltaic-shaped elevated landscape is blessed with rich mangrove forests. Its proximity to the shore would make way for tourism,” said the divisional forest Officer, Rajnagar Mangrove Forest Division, Mr Ajay Kumar Jena.

The department would start its operation within a week. Keeping in view this fact that Paradip is fast emerging as a bustling industrial hub, tourism would receive the much-needed boost.

“The tranquil environment in and around Hukitola are strikingly similar to that of the Bhitarkanika wetland. Thus a voyage to Hukitola would be a visual treat for the tourists. The British structure will be an added attraction,” Mr Jena said.
While ravages of time has threatened its existence, its conservation is necessary. “It’s a priceless treasure. We had taken up the proposal for its maintenance with the Union finance commission grants earmarked for maintenance of ancient monuments,” Mr Jena said.

The building has a total plinth area of more than 7,000 square feet.

Following are excerpts from a New Indian Express report on this.

Tata’s budget hotel chain Ginger is expected to open doors to foodies in Paradip and Konark by the end of 2008.

Chief executive officer of Roots Corporation, Prabhat Pani said, they have already acquired one acre of land each in both these towns and would start construction in the next two months. Plans are also afoot to come up with a Ginger hotel in industrial towns like Jharsuguda, Angul and Kalinga Nagar in the next couple of years.

Roots Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Group and manages the Ginger chain of hotels. The company entered into the State in September last year with the launch of Ginger in the city.

Update: The Orissa government’s tourism web page has additional information on the Shamuka beach project.

Following is an excerpt on this from Expresshospitality.com.

Shamuka Beach in Orissa near Puri is being developed as a high-end luxury tourism destination by the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation. The department has acquired a 1000 acre property south of Puri, and is in the process of acquiring 2000 acres more. It is a natural island and is being developed by the name Shamuka Beach project. Divulging further details about the project, Asit K Tripathi, secretary, Orissa Tourism, says, "It is going to be one of India’s best integrated, dedicated and up market tourism project, with only 5-star hotels. We had advertised and the response has been overwhelming. We have got responses from leading players in the country as well as abroad. ITC-Welcomgroup, the DLF-Hilton combine, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, IHHR’s Ananda Spa, Casino Group of Hotels Earth (CGH Earth), The Oberoi Group, Apeejay Surrendra Group, Marriott International, and Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific have all shown interest. We can allot land to approximately 20 national and international hotel brands. We are coming out with a blue print to develop infrastructure. The third stage will be to establish a golf course and convention center. This will raise the value of Orissa as a leisure destination." "Although we have 934 hotels in Orissa and 2000 rooms, the majority cater to primarily low spending groups, and the rest target high spending tourists or corporates. With this initiative, within 1-2 years, we will have more quality rooms," says Devi Prasad Mishra, tourism minister, Orissa. Samukha Beach and Puri, as well as industrial growth centers like Paradeep, Talcher, Kalinganagar, as well as Jharsuguda and Angul have generated interest from the hospitality industry in recent times – especially budget hotels and business hotels. The no-frills brand of The Indian Hotels Company, Ginger Hotels opened their first hotel in Bhubaneshwar. Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific plans to open its Radisson Hotels & Resorts in Chilika, Puri and Bhubaneswar. Cabana Group, the master licensee of the world-renowned chain of hotels – Best Western International from California is setting-up an international standard culinary college cum 5-star property in Bhubaneswar, and is eyeing Puri to develop the brand.

Following are excerpts from a report in Statesman.

… Mr Bijay Kumar Panda, head of Essar Steel Orissa highlighted the advantages of his proposed project yesterday.

Mr Panda said that the people of Nuagada, Udayabata and Bijaychandpur are keen on an early establishment of the proposed steel plant.

Barring a couple of organizations, the people at large are interested in the project and they have accepted the RR policy adopted by the company, he claimed.

Mr Panda informed that Essar Steel Orissa Ltd (ESOL), which is fully owned by Essar Steel Ltd, is going to set up a 6 million tone per annum integrated steel plant at the cost of Rs 15,000 corers.

The project would require 1900 acres of land out of which 270 acres would be government land and the rest, private. He informed that the number of displaced families have not yet been ascertained because the land survey has not been completed.

He said that the company, the government and the people had all agreed to a rate of Rs 9.50 lakh per acre as compensation and that some people had already provided their land at the said rate.

Balram Parida of Nuagada village who had given his 70 decimals land for the project said he had also requested the Essar authority to emply his son. Speaking of the project, Mr Panda informed that the technology selected will be eco –friendly and increase the iron ore reserves. He said that a beneficiation plant is located at Joda and Barbil so beneficiated ore will be transported through a slurry pipe line to Joda. Supply of iron ore through the pipe line will be cheaper too, he added.

He also informed 5500 people will be employed. The company will set up a 200 mega watt captive thermal power plant.

Meanwhile, the Paradip Krushak Manch has threatened to agitate if Essar failed to increase the compensation to Rs 25 lakh per acre.

The orissa.gov.in site has a page on PPP (private-public partnership) which contains the Orissa draft PPP policy and a list of projects in Orissa planned to be funded through PPP. Following are excerpts from a recent report in Telegraph.

The Orissa government is planning to invest Rs 125,000 crore in 36 infrastructure projects to be taken up under the private-public-partnership programme.

…Under the programme, the state government will leverage its financial resources with that of the Centre, to prepare a shelf of projects. These will be taken forward through a transparent selection process. There will also be viability gap funding, if the projects are initially loss-making.

The policy will also create Orissa Infrastructure Development Fund with a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore. Projects that are part of the programme include roads, bridges, ports and harbours, airports, airstrips, inland container depots, industrial parks, special economic zones and townships.

“We have already entered into agreements with IL&FS and PricewaterhouseCoopers, who will be the consultants for these projects. A few more will be empanelled soon,” said Parag Gupta, special secretary of the state secretariat’s public-private-partnership cell. …

Sources said IL&FS was picked as a consultant because of its joint venture with state-run Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation for the Bhubaneswar Integrated Road Network project. PwC is also a consultant for several road projects. The state has also signed an agreement with the Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) in this regard. IDFC is funding some projects in association with Nabard.

“Two more consultants, including Ernst and Young and another Calcutta-based firm, will be enrolled soon,” the sources said.

The empanelled agencies will help identify projects that need to be taken up, prepare pre-feasibility and detailed project reports. They will then hand the reports over to respective departments.

Some of the projects being taken up are the Capital Region Ring Road, to span 98km, and the Bhubaneswar-Paradip Road, a 90km stretch. Each of the projects will cost around Rs 700 crore. They will be executed by the state public works department.

Other projects include sector-specific infotech SEZs, which will cost around Rs 352 crore and an IT & corporate tower in Bhubaneswar to be set up for Rs 146 crore.

Following are excerpts from a sify.com report.

State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is setting up an oil refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Paradip in Orissa, with an installed capacity of 15 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) at an estimated cost of Rs 25,646 crore.

”The project is expected to be completed by October 2011,” Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

He said the land acquisition was carried out by Orissa Government by consent agreement under section 11(2) of the Land Acquisition Act, based on the compensation package for private land fixed by Orissa Government in October, 1999.

IOC has already acquired 3,347 acres of land for Paradip Refinery Project.

The progress made on the various phases of the project includes the construction of bridges over Santra Creek, approach road including railway over-bridge for the refinery connecting NH-5A to refinery site have been completed.

Tecnological selection for all major units has been completed.

Residential accommodation for construction phase, CISF colony, coastal approach road and green belt development are under various stages of construction.

Project Management Consultant (PMC) has been selected for Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) phase of the project on December 1, 2006.

Patel said the environmental clearance for the project has been received on July 6, 2007.

He added an amount of Rs 2281.87 crore has been sanctioned for Paradip Refinery project for carrying out pre-project activities, out of which, Rs 778.32 crore has been spent as on July 31, this year.

Following up on the report in our previous entry, another political party, albeit with a small presence in Orissa, has come out in support of POSCO. Following is an excerpt from Pioneer.

The Samajwadi Party has lent its support to the pro-Posco villagers in their bid to cooperate with the officials for land acquisition for the company’s steel project. The party’s State president Baisnab Charan Parida, in a statement, said adequate compensation to the evacuees and their proper rehabilitation, training to the local people for employment and a thorough discussion with the supporters and opponents of Posco on development of education, health and communication facilities in the peripheral area by the company official as well as the State Government should be taken up at the earliest.

In an era of globalisation, if a country hesitates to open up its economy and decry establishment of industries by multinationals, it would remain backward, he added.

POSCO has also come up with some novel opportunities for the displaced people. Following are excerpts from a Business Standard report.

Korean major considers offering locals an export market in addition to compensation.

Korean steel giant Posco is taking a novel route to persuade land-owners to sell their land in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district where its Rs 52,000 crore, 12 million tonne steel plant is to be located.

Apart from monetary compensation for the land, Posco is offering the 140-odd fishermen families that will be displaced by India’s largest greenfield steel plant an assured market for dried fish and mango pickle in South Korea.

The company, which has been facing stiff resistance from locals who will lose land to the project, proposes to train fishermen in the area to produce the dried fish coveted by Koreans, according to a Posco India spokesman.

“Around 160 families in the periphery have shown interest and will be included in the programme,” he said. He said some 160 families on the periphery of the project had accepted the proposal.

A similar programme is being planned for betel vine cultivators. “They have shown interest in fruit, especially mangoes. We will get pickle manufacturers to collaborate with them and export these products to South Korea,” he added.

A socio economic survey, which is still being conducted, indicates that there are around 50 betel vine owners and 1,000 cultivators for 1,200 betel vines. “Not just the owners, the cultivators will also be included in the programme,” he said.

The plan has been suggested as a solution to the vexed problem of compensating land-losers by offering them sustainable livelihood. At the same time, it will meet a growing demand for dried fish and pickle in Korea. According to reports, Korea’s imports are expected to exceed exports due to depletion of fish resources. Its pickle demand is primarily met by China.

…“The products developed by the fishermen and betel vine cultivators will be exported to Korea through Posco’s captive port. After meeting the demand in the Korean market, they can be exported to South East Asia,” the spokesman said.

Posco India is currently in the last leg of its land-acquisition programme. Of the required land of 4,004 acres, the Orissa government is to provide 3,566 acres (of which it is yet to get possession). The company will have to buy the remaining 438 acres of land directly from land-owners.

The rehabilitation & periphery development advisory committee (RPDAC) is expected to meet shortly to decide on the compensation package. The committee comprises representatives from the government, the company and the local people.

The private land covers three gram panchayats — Gada Kujanga, Muagaon and Dhinkia, the latter being the largest tract covering 200 acres and has been the most aggressive in leading an agitation against Posco’s steel plant.

However, the Posco spokesman said, things have improved and the survey indicated that around 90 per cent of the people wanted to shift to other means of livelihood.

Following is a report from Samaja on this. This is what more legislators of the area should be doing, but without fighting among themselves.

Following are excerpts from a report in english.chosun.com.

… After a rough start, POSCO is expected to finally have a site allocated for a planned steel mill in India, while an investment in a new Vietnam steel mill is likely to move ahead in October.

According to POSCO on Wednesday, the Indian government recently made it known that they plan to determine whether to give environmental clearance for the 4,004 acre site in Paradip in the province of Orissa.

Some 3,566 acres or 89.1 percent of the site of the planned one-stop steel system belongs to the government. Of that, 3,097 acres (86.9 percent) is forest land. For now, POSCO has only secured 193 acres (4.8 percent).

A POSCO official said, "The final decision has not yet been made, but we heard that the site might be released from the forest zone soon. The state-owned land accounts for nearly 90 percent of our site. In other words, if the area is released from the forest zone, the biggest obstacle to our effort to secure the site disappears."

Following are some excerpts from a PTI report in Economic Times.

Setting at rest speculation on the fate of its Rs 52,000 crore steel project, South Korean giant Posco has decided to begin construction work on the 12 million tonne plant in Orissa by October.

“We will begin construction work of our 12 MT project in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district by October on whatever land we have acquired so far,” Posco India Chairman and Managing Director Soung Sik Cho said. …

“We believe things have undergone a sea-change during the last few months. People are clearly convinced that they will benefit from the project. Now they have a better understanding of the entire situation,” he reasoned.

Posco was also enthused after the union government gave environmental approval to the project. Moreover, the Naveen Patnaik government in Orissa has been asked by the Centre to take the mega investment process forward.

“Actually things are now looking much brighter. We have also received the official nod for our captive port project at Jatadhari, which has also encouraged us,” Cho pointed out.

The Korean steel giant has decided to begin construction work initially on 400 acres of non-forest land, and then on the revenue land to be given to it by the Orissa government.

“Now the only issue remains to be resolved is granting captive iron ore mines to us. But here also I believe things are moving in the right direction,” Cho said.

Following are excerpts from a Sambada report.

The Hindu reports that environmental clearance has been granted to POSCO steel plant. POSCO has earmarked 1,525 crores for environmental pollution control as per the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) as well as the state government conditions. Excerpts:

“The Ministry of Environment and Forests has given the environmental clearance for Posco’s mega steel project at Kujang near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa,” highly-placed official sources said.The Korean steel giant had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Orissa government in June 2005 pledging an investment of Rs 52,000 crore for setting up the plant.

“The project authorities shall utilise Rs 1,525 crore earmarked for environmental pollution control measures judiciously to implement the conditions stipulated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) as well as the state government. The funds so provided shall not be diverted for any other purpose,” a source quoted the Environment and Forests Ministry as saying, while granting clearance.

The clearance has been granted to the world’s third largest steel manufacturer for installing furnaces using FINEX technology only and on the condition that gaseous emissions from its various units should strictly conform to load/mass based standards notified by the government.

Earlier in April, the MOEF had granted its approval under Coastal Regulation Zone to the Korean steel giant’s proposal to set up a captive port at Jatadhari at a cost of Rs 17,113 crore.”

Business standard reports that some of the betel cultivators have accepted POSCO’s compensation for these Betel farms.

Also, It must be noted, that these Betel cultivation was being done in Govt. enroached land. Currently out of 4004 acres required by POSCO, 3567 acres is Govt. land and 438 acres is pvt. land.

Excerpts:

In a major breakthrough in the imbroglio over land acquisition for Posco’s 12-million-tonne steel project near Paradip in Orissa, betel cultivators at Nuagaon village, within the project site, have dismantled their vineyards in lieu of compensation.

According to sources, four betel farm owners have accepted compensation to the tune of Rs 4.8 lakh, while 20 more who had surrendered their claim on betel vineyards are expected to be paid around Rs 15 lakh in a couple of days.

The farmers are being paid according to the rate fixed by the state government. Company sources said they had received about 200 applications from local farmers for payment of compensation for the surrender of their claim.

These were being verified and would be cleared in a phased manner, they added.

It may be noted that betel leaves are mostly cultivated over encroached government land in the proposed Posco plant area. There are about 1,600 betel farms in Nuagaon alone.

Posco required for its plant 4004 acres of land in three grampanchayats, namely Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gada Kujanga. Of this, 3567 acres is government land and 437 acres is private land. Most of the government land, however, is encroached upon by betel cultivators.

It may be noted that about 3,000 people working at the betel farms in Gadakujanga, Dhinkia and Nuagaon are among the most vocal opponents of the project as they fear loss of employment.

They have become soft targets for anti-Posco agitators. Keeping this in mind, the state government is framing a separate package for these workers, in addition to the existing rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) policy formulated last year.

According to state Chief Secretary Ajit Tripathy, the stalemate over land acquisition is gradually giving way and people in the site area are coming out in support of the project.

In the last two days couple of press releases have come out from the Minister of Steel, Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan. The first one assures POSCO of all help and the second one assures Laxmi Mittal about his support for ore linkages for his proposed steel plants in Jharkhand and Orissa.

Business Standard in a report mentions the following numbers in regards to IOC’s plan in Paradip.

IOC is also planning around Rs 6,000 crore petrochemical complex at its upcoming 15 mtpa refinery in Paradip, Orissa.

Deepika Global reports on Paradeep Phosphates’ record production this year. Following are some excerpts.

The Paradeep Phosphate Limited (PPL) has registered a record of 13.18 lakh tonnes production in last fiscal and earned a net profit of Rs 109 crores while raising its income to Rs 2067.2 crore. … of the total production the DAP alone accounted for 8.2 lakh tonnes.

Among the intermediary products, Phosphoric Acid, he said was 2,80,300 tonnes, registering an increase of 8.6 per cent over the previous year.

Similarly, Sulphuric Acid registered an increase of 3.4 per cent in comparison to last year with 7,60,610 tonnes.

He said in addition to 13.10 lakh tonnes production, the PPL also sold 1,42,152 tonnes of imported Mauriate of Potash (MOP), 3,13,470 tonne of Gypsum and exported 31,000 tonne of fertiliser to Nepal.

Mr Nandrudikar claimed that the Navaratna Krushi Vikas Yojana implemented in Orissa and Chhatishgarh had been very successful in increasing the yield with the use of improve techniques of agriculture.

Besides improving the agricultural productivity, the PPL had also undertaken mushroom cultivation and tissue culture of bananas in four districts, two each in Orissa and Chhatisgarh, he added. …

He said the company had already invested Rs 140 crores in first year and another Rs 142 crores last year further adding that it had decided to invest another Rs 140 crore during the current fiscal.

Kalingatimes reports that Posco is definitely interested in the Orissa project.
Excerpts of the Article below

… The latest statement from the authorities of POSCO-India makes it clear that they were here to stay – to pursue their 12 million tonne per annum capacity steel mill project in Jagatsinghpur district.

…, the company has said in a statement that it was `confident, determined and committed’ to make its Orissa steel project happen. …

But the company has said that as per its human resource plan, overseas staff deployment in POSCO-India project was purely need based.

“Staff deployment is in relation to specific assignments and the employee moves with the changes in assignment. Accordingly, when the construction phase begins, there would be reallocation of staff from overseas in large number,” a statement from the company said.

Although there had been undue delay in the implementation of the project due to non-acquisition of land for the proposed steel plant, the company has announced it was hopeful of starting ground leveling work by December this year.

“The company is further encouraged by the support extended by Government of Orissa as well as Government of India for expediting the project,’ the statement said.

“Going by the recent developments, the company is happy to note that there is a greater understanding and wider consensus in favor of the project building up at all levels, notably among people in the project site.” …

If official sources are to be believed, … POSCO authorities were ready to wait for several more years to implement the project.

“The main worry of POSCO-India authorities would be over the day they were granted prospecting licence for the Khandadhar iron ore mines by the Central government.

As regards the people’s opposition to displacement by the proposed steel plant in Jagatsinghpur as well as the move to grant of prospecting licence to the company for Khandadhar mines, sources said that POSCO was used to such resistance.

“They are hopeful that things will slowly start changing and the opposition will lose strength in due course,” a senior government official observed.

Rehabilitation process begins

Meanwhile, the company, in association with the district administration, has started the process for rehabilitating 48 families that had left Patna village under Dhinkia panchayat of Jagatsinghpur following their differences with those who were against the setting up of the steel plant in their locality.

The company was hopeful that a transit camp for the 48 families would come up within four weeks. Simultaneously, efforts were being made to select a site for constructing a full-fledged rehabilitation colony for these families.

A company official said that once the habilitation colony was set up it would attract people from the camp that was opposed to the project.

The families which had come out of their villages on their own and were supporting the project would be given rehabilitation benefits under the provisions of the existing Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy of the State.

Going by the company’s stand, it appears clear that they might start thinking in terms of packing their bags only if the both the Central Government and the State Government expressed their unwillingness to extend help. But going by the eagerness on the part of both the governments to help POSCO-India, such a situation was unlikely to emerge in the next few years. After all, POSCO-India’s steel project still continues to carry the tag of biggest ever foreign direct investment in the country.

This sounds like a good reinforcement of it’s commitment to the Orissa project.

Business standard reports on government of Orissa and POSCO’s plans regarding R & R and compensation. Following are some excerpts.

… The government is also working on improving the compensation package for the area’s beetle-vine workers, who are among the most vocal opponents of the project as they fear loss of livelihood.

A joint exercise will be started soon for implementing the rehabilitation package. We will sit with Posco executives to decide what best can be offered to the displaced, in excess of the entitlements prescribed by the government’s rehabilitation policy and the package prepared by the company, …

The proposals which are being examined include a pension scheme for the displaced persons and a job card for all the displaced who are less than 60 years in age.

Money control reports on this about Deepak Fertilisers And Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (DFPCL). Following is an excerpt.

Land acquisition process for the Company’s 300,000 MT Ammonium Nitrate project at Paradip in Orissa is in progress and, in the meanwhile, the Company has completed the process of acquiring key equipment and placed orders for long lead items in addition to commencing the detail engineering process for the new plant.