Korean Broadcasting Service team visits Orissa

Tuesday, 11 Oct 2011

BS reported that /worried over the inordinate delay in implementation of mega steel project proposed by POSCO India in Orissa, a 4 member team of the Korean Broadcasting Service, based out of Seoul held talks with the state Chief Secretary Mr BK Patnaik.

The media team from Seoul visited the POSCO site before meeting with Mr Patnaik to take stock of the ground level progress.

The team was eager to know of the reasons that have held up the big ticket project.

Mr Patnaik told reporters after talks with the Korean media team that “The visiting media team from Korea enquired about various aspects of the project. They questioned whether local opposition has held up the project. We informed them people in five out of seven villages are in favour of the project.”

Besides, he told the team members that though the project was six years old, the final forest clearance for it was received only recently.

(Sourced from BS)

Karnataka CM will persuade farmers to give up land

Monday, 11 Jul 2011

Batting for a POSCO steel plant in Gadag, Mr BS Yeddyurappa chief minister of Karnataka said that the government will try to persuade farmers to part with their land.

The situation does not warrant the South Korean steelmaker to relocate from Halligudi in Gadag district to anywhere rise in the state.

Mr Yeddyurappa told TOI a that "The government is trying to convince the farmers. The company stays in Gadag. We hope that everything will go well.”

The CM's statement comes following reports that POSCO in the wake of the farmers' protests in Gadag is looking at alternative sites to set up its 6 million tonne per annum steel plant in Bagalkot or Bijapur district. The government is exploring the possibility of excluding the objecting villages from the POSCO project and allotting adjoining land.

While an official in the industries department dealing with the project said POSCO prefers setting up a unit in Gadag, large and medium industries minister Murgesh R Nirani said the CM's decision will be final.

The official said a change of location would be tough; there would be too many formalities. Investments over INR 50 crore are cleared by the State High Level Clearance Committee headed by the chief minister. The committee has to approve even minor amendments if a company wants to change its name, address and location. (sourced from TOI)

India hopes to sort Orissa plant coal issues by mid-Feb

Monday 31 January 2011, 2:15 PM

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's power ministry is hopeful of resolving environmental issues regarding a coal block attached to a proposed 4,000 megawatt power project in Orissa by mid-February, Power Secretary P Uma Shankar told reporters on Monday.

"The government has postponed the date for pre-qualifying for the Orissa project to March 31 from Jan. 31," he said on the sidelines of an industry conference.
The coal-fired power plant will use coal from mines located in an environmentally sensitive forested area.
India currently has four 'ultra-mega power projects' of 4,000 MW each under construction, as part of its effort to boost generation capacity.
(Reporting by Ketan Bondre;Editing by Aradhana Aravindan )

India gives conditional OK for POSCO mill-govt statement

NEW DELHI Jan 31, 2011 (Reuters) -

India's environment ministry gave conditional approval on Monday for South Korean POSCO's (005490.KS: Quote) $12 billion steel mill, a government statement said, in a boost for the foreign investment climate after several setbacks for large-scale industrial projects.

The ministry also conditionally cleared the plant's captive port and power plant. (Reporting by Nigam Prusty; Writing by Alistair Scrutton; sourced:Reuters)

India approves $12 bln POSCO steel mill

Environment ministry approves $12 billion project
* Project is single largest foreign investment in India
* Approval may ease concern about changing regulations

By Nigam Prusty and Paul de Bendern
NEW DELHI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - India's environment ministry approved on Monday South Korean POSCO's plans for a $12 billion steel mill, a boost for the foreign investment climate after several setbacks for big ticket industrial projects.
The long-delayed clearance for India's biggest foreign direct investment -- as long as the company meets a series of environmental standards -- follows a year in which Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has blocked several projects, raising criticism he was jeapordising India's growth story.

"Undoubtedly projects such as that of POSCO have considerable economic, technological and strategic significance for the country," the statement said. "At the same time, laws on environment and forests must be implemented seriously."
The mill in eastern Orissa state has been delayed by criticism it would ruin lives of thousands of poverty-stricken people, who say the plant will disrupt their betel leaf plantations and forest-based livelihoods.

India, one of the world's fastest growing major economies, needs foreign capital to boost infrastructure and allow its economy to grow at near double digits. But projects have met with protests from local farmers in this densely-populated country.
A government panel had earlier said there were no ecological concerns over the plant and the final decision was with Ramesh.
Posco is among several corporations, including Vedanta Resources, which have come under scrutiny from Ramesh, putting his ministry in conflict with others in the government who are pushing for rapid industrialisation.

A series of corruption scandals has shaken the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a recent minor cabinet reshuffle saw several ministers' portfolios change, but Ramesh stayed on as environment minister, indicating his influence.
The ruling Congress party head, Sonia Gandhi, is keen to win over farmers hit by big projects at well as ensuring industrial jobs are created -- a fine line that may have helped create regulatory uncertainty before state elections this year and a general election in 2014.

REGULATORY UNCERTAINTY
While investors tend to shrug off corruption scandals as a risk of emerging markets, regulatory uncertainty threatens to taint India's attractiveness as a destination for foreign firms eager for a slice of its booming $1.3 trillion economy.
In October, Ramesh threw out plans by London-listed Vedanta to expand its alumina refinery over worries it would destroy a "sacred" hill for tribal peoples, but this month Ramesh said he was willing to conditionally reconsider Vedanta's expansion plan.
That remark came soon after the ministry said it could consider approving Hindustan Construction Co's ambitious Lavasa project, a massive new town in a forested area near the city of Pune being built at a cost of $31 billion.
A back-and-forth on whether to ban iron ore exports in the Karnataka state has also worried investors. ArcelorMittal, the world's top steel maker, has also had faced years of delays in building several plants in India.

Approval for the Posco mill would see the Orissa government immediately starting to acquire land for the world's third-largest steelmaker's project.
Posco still faces a series of hurdles that could delay the project, such as a court case filed by a local firm against the Orissa government, contesting its decision to grant a mining concession to South Koreans.
India, which has not yet been able to exploit its potential as a natural resources-rich country, is keen on boosting its trade and political ties with South Korea while Seoul looks to tap into the $150 billion Indian nuclear power market.
Direct investors -- companies building factories or power plants or buying local firms -- often have less flexibility and more to lose than fund investors and are especially sensitive to regulatory uncertainty.
Leading global companies such as Wal-Mart Stores, Vodafone and Posco have been frustrated for years in their efforts to negotiate regulations in a promising but perilous market, and foreign direct investment has suffered.

Vodafone, India's biggest foreign direct investor to date, is fighting a 120 billion rupee ($2.6 billion) tax bill in a court battle and has complained about a telecoms regulatory structure that it said allowed too many players into the market. (Additional reporting by Krittivas Mukherjee; writing by Paul de Bendern and Alistair Scrutton; Editing by Alistair Scrutton)

South Korea awaits POSCO fate in India - Mr Kim Jong Hoon

Tuesday, 25 Jan 2011
Mr Kim Jong Hoon trade minister of South Korea, in an exclusive interview with Economic Times, said that India's comprehensive trade pact with South Korea signed in 2010 has shown encouraging results. Trade in goods is on track, but more has to be done in services. With a little effort from both sides, the benefits could multiply. Following is the Excerpts from an exclusive interview:
Q - Are you satisfied with the increase in trade after the signing of the bilateral comprehensive economic partnership agreement last year?
A - I think trade in goods is on track. There has been almost 45% increase in two-way trade last year. But there is no room for complacency. We want to upgrade the agreement, particularly in terms of tariff reduction scheduling. We want tariffs to come down faster.

Q - To what extent has CEPA liberalized market in services?
A - South Korea has agreed to open up certain professional jobs. One example is IT software. Programmers from India are now coming to look for well paying jobs. We never dreamt of such a thing before CEPA. Koreans now want to see what India is like and also look for business opportunities. Last year 18,000 Koreans visited India, half as tourists and half for business. In the same year, about 50,000 Indians visited Korea. Around 250 of them have been issued visas to look for professional jobs. We have to do more in services. Liberalizing movement of people is an important part of opening up services. People should be free to carry money as investments to other market or go to other market looking for new jobs. I and Mr Anand Sharma commerce and industry minister of India agreed to facilitate such movement of persons.

Q - Some items of interest to Korea, like automobiles, were kept out of the CEPA. Would you want them to be included gradually?
A - India does not allow import of finished cars. That is not a big problem as Korean companies have invested here. Hyundai is doing good business. In auto parts, India has agreed to a progressive tariff reduction. This will be good for our auto companies here who can import more parts, expand business and hire more people. Auto parts business in Korea is usually with small and medium companies who can easily attach themselves to new companies. So, smart SMEs in India can seek collaboration with Korean companies and specialize in making auto parts.

Q - Does the POSCO delay bother you?
A - We understand that India has its own concerns related to environment and mining rights. At the same time I have emphasized that it will get record high foreign investments through this project. Importantly, the investments are to build factories that can hire locals. I am very certain it will be good for the Indian economy. Many South Korean companies are looking at how the case is being dealt with.
(Sourced from www.economictimes.indiatimes.com)

JSPL to export Bolivian iron ore in March - Report

Friday, 21 Jan 2011

State run daily Cambio reported that India's Jindal Steel and Power is due to start exporting iron ore concentrate from Bolivia's El Mutun in March.

The report, without specifying when the comments were made, quoted Mr Naveen Jindal vice CMD of JSPL as saying that “Beginning iron ore exports toward the end of March will be an important milestone.”

The state run newspaper also reported Jindal as saying that El Mutun should start producing steel by 2014.

Mr Jindal had told Reuters earlier this month that the company plans to invest USD 280 million in el Mutun in 2011 and said it will export up to a million tonnes of iron ore in this first year of operations.

The USD 2.1 billion iron ore and steel project in eastern Bolivia has been plagued by delays amid accusations by Bolivia's leftist government that the company was running behind schedule. A 40 year contract gives Jindal the right to mine about half the El Mutun site, which is believed to contain some of the world's largest reserves of iron ore, though said to be of medium grade quality.

(Sourced from Reuters)

Posco steel project issues to be resolved soon

TNN, Jan 21, 2011

NEW DELHI: Commerce Minister Anand Sharma on Thursday his South Korean counterpart that the issues delaying the Posco project in Orissa would be soon resolved.

South Korean trade minister Kim Jon-Hoon, who is in India to take part in the India-Korea bilateral meet, said on Thursday that both countries should work together to find a solution if there are any environmental concerns.

"There are certain issues. I am sure whatever the glitches are, will be removed. The necessary clearances will come and the remainder issues will get settled," Sharma said.

Jong-Hoon said the $12 billion Posco steel project would usher in development in India and create more jobs. "We don't have to disregard the importance of this Greenfield investment which can create a great deal of jobs in India and a great deal of value for Indian industry," Hoon told reporters.

"The site where we are trying to set up the steel mill is not in my mind forest area," he said.

Posco had signed an agreement with the Orissa government in 2005 to set up a 12 MTPA steel project but the plans are facing environmental hurdles.
Read more at The Times of India