POSCO Ready to Target Steel Production at Mega Indian Project After Eight Years of Delays

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial lnfo Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In the long-running saga of POSCO India''s (NYSE:PKX) (Seoul, South Korea) efforts to get the company''s mega steel project off the ground in Odisha, a target has been set to begin steel production within five years of acquiring the total land cleared for the first stage of the project.

"We need at least two years for fencing and land preparation, and subsequently the first 8 million-ton stage in construction of the steel plant needs three years," said a senior executive of the company. "So, we can start production in five years after we get the total required land."

He added, "After we are handed over the 2,700 acres of cleared land required for the first stage, we will start work."

He said that the project had faced several hurdles--including political opposition, pending environmental clearances, and continuous demands from various stakeholders--that had slowed down the land acquisition process. POSCO India signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government in 2005, but has since had to negotiate a number of major obstacles.

For related information, see May 4, 2011, article - POSCO''s $12 billion Indian Steel Project Given Go-Ahead--with 60 Conditions Attached.

The Odisha government has so far handed over about 1,700 acres for setting up the mega steel plant near Paradip, in the Jagatsinghpur district.

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