Bhubaneswar, July 4: Korean steel major Posco's plan to build a $12 billion steel project in Odisha got a boost with the state authorities Thursday declaring that land acquisition for it was complete and 2,700 acres of land had been acquired for the 12 million tonnes per annum greenfield steel project touted as India's single-largest foreign direct investment.
The administration has demolished all the betel vines over 2,700 acres in Jagatsinghpur district, where the project will come up, District Collector Satya Kumar Mullick told IANS.
He said the government had paid nearly Rs.20 crore in compensation to over a thousand people during the land takeover process.
The process to handover the land to the company would begin soon, he said.
The Odisha government signed an agreement with the South Korean steel major in 2005 for the 12 million tonne per annum steel project, the largest foreign direct investment in India.
But there has been almost no progress on the ground, due to local opposition.
The state government expedited the land takeover process in recent months after the company said it would start construction if the authorities handed over 2,700 acres of land required for the first phase of the project (8 million tonnes per annum).
"It is good news. We are waiting for an official communication from the government on this matter," a company spokesman told IANS.
Posco is the world's fourth-largest steel producer.
