At a recent meeting with South Korean Minister Sukwoo Hong, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma assured that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was personally monitoring the progress of PoscoÂ’s $12-billion steel project in Odisha.
Sharma met his South Korean counterpart at the Partnership Summit organised by the CII to discuss bilateral trade ties. Indian government is concerned about the delay and will be conducting a review soon, Sharma said.
Noting that PoscoÂ’s investment proposal is the largest FDI offer India has received, Hong said the whole world was keenly watching how the company is being treated. He also said the country was looking at Posco as a key determinant for its further plans in India.
It may be recalled that the South Korean steel giant PoscoÂ’s $12-billion investment plans in Odisha has been hanging fire for several years because of land and environment clearance problems.
In March 2012, the Ministry of Environment and Forests was asked by the National Green Tribunal to make a fresh review of the environment clearance accorded by it to the project, with specific reference to the observations made by the review committees earlier.
The Odisha government, too, has said it can acquire the required land for Posco to start its steel plant only after all environment clearances are in place.
In another meeting, this time with Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade, the UAE, Sharma focussed on new opportunities created by IndiaÂ’s recent policy reforms and invited the UAE to invest in various areas, especially in infrastructure.
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