Jairam Ramesh grants final approval to Orissa's Posco project

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New Delhi, May 2 : Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh today granted final approval to Orissa for diversion of 1,253 hectares of forest land for Posco's steel project.
Ramesh said in a statement: "In view of the state government's latest communication of 29th April, final approval is accorded to the state government for diversion of 1253 hectares of forest land in favour of Posco."
"Posco would also bear the cost of regeneration of an equivalent amount of open, degraded land in a district to be determined and indicated by the state Government," he added.
In view of the fact that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Orissa Government and Posco in 2005 had expired last year, Ramesh said: "I would expect that the revised MoU between the state and Posco would be negotiated in such a manner that exports of the raw material are completely avoided."
Posco India had entered into a MoU with the Orissa Government on June 22, 2005 for a period of five years.
The renewal of MoU with Posco India had hit a roadblock, allegedly due to the South Korean steel firm's reservations over the mandatory implementation of the employment clause introduced by Orissa Government for all industries.
Jairam Ramesh had earlier on January 31 gave a conditional clearance to South Korean steel giant Posco for the 12 billion dollar steel cum power plant in Orissa.