POSCO project biggest FDI for India: Naveen

Bhubaneswar, Oct 29 (PTI) Chief Minister of India's
eastern state Orissa Naveen Patnaik on Friday said the POSCO
project, which has been a hanging fire for the last five
years, has a potential of earning huge revenue for the Centre
as well as the state and will create many employment
opportunities for the country.
Patnaik also said the implementaion of the Rs 51,000
-crore project is also the responsibility of the central
government.
"It is also the responsibility of the Centre. The Union
government should see that such a major project like POSCO be
implemented. It is the biggest FDI of the country," Patnaik
told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
The project, which was stalled after a four-member
central panel submitted a split report on whether to withhold
the environment clearance earlier granted to the company, is
likely to be discussed by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
with the president of South Korea during a scheduled visit.
The project, which needs 4,004 acres of land, also
encountered stiff opposition from the local people for fear of
being displaced.
On August five, the Indian Ministry of Environment and
Forest had issued a cease work notice to the state government
on the recommendation of the N C Saxena Committee which
claimed that Forest Rights Act, 2006 was grossly violated at
the proposed project site.