Government elicits views of departments
Government elicits views of departments
BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Tuesday asked various departments to give their views in 15 days on possible deletion and add..

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Tuesday asked various departments to give their views in 15 days on possible deletion and addition of new points in the MoU to be renewed with the South Korean firm Posco for establishment of the proposed steel plant near Paradip, including the controversial iron swapping clause. Chief secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik chaired a high-level meeting to discuss renewal of MoU with the South Korean company. No decision was taken at the meeting. The Chief Secretary said that the secretaries of concerned departments have been asked to give theiropinion on different subjects, including swapping clause within 15 days. Chief Minister will take a final decision on the issue.The state government which had earlier announced to renew the MoU with Posco-India by end of June, had a detailed discussion on the swapping clause, water sources for the project, mandatory reservationof jobs for local youths and other subjects.Though the MoU with the South Korean steel major lapsed on June 21 last year, the State Government is yet to renew it. The swapping clause in the lapsed MoU had also been criticised by the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh while according the final forest clearance for Posco’s greenfield mega steel project. Official sources said the State Government was examining the suggestion given by Ramesh. The view of this will be given by the Commerce Department in 15 days.  Though Ramesh had raised the issue, the Ministry of Commerce did not ban export of iron ore.Meanwhile, a delegation of Posco on Tuesday met the Chief Secretary and held discussion on the renewal of the MoU and other matters.The delegation thanked the State Government for progress in the land acquisition process for the Posco project, a senior official said.

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