Odisha urges Centre to grant PL to Posco for notified area in Khandadhar mines

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Nov 3:

Barely a day after the meeting between Gee Woong Sung, Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Posco India and chief secretary G C Pati, the Odisha government on Sunday requested the Centre again to grant Prospecting License (PL) for Iron ore over Notified Area of 2082.502 hectares in the Khadadhar mines in favor of the company.

The Steel & Mines department of the state government on Sunday sent a letter to the Union ministry of Mines requesting it to grant PL to POSCO in Kensara, Bhutuda, Rantha, Batagaon Soreikala, Lusi and Raisuan villages in Sundargarh district for a period of three years under Section 5(1) and 11(3) of Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957.

On October 10, the Union Ministry of Mines had sought clarifications from the state government on its recommendation to grant prospecting license to Posco India to mine iron ore from the Khandadhar mines in Sundargarh district.The department had asked the Odisha government to submit two separate recommendations for notified and non-notified areas of the mines.

The Odisha government had earlier recommended 2,500 hectares, including 417 hectares in non-notified area, for mining by the Korean company.

Sources in the state government said the state had forwarded the request for granting  PL to Posco over the 2082.502 acres of  notified area. It would soon forward a separate request to the Centre for granting PL to company for the 417 ha of Non-Notified area, the sources said.

Even though Posco had inked a MoU with the state government on June 22, 2005 for an Rs 52,000 crore steel plant and port projects, the projects are yet to materialize on account of various impediments. Besides problems in land acquisition, the company has also faced hurdles in the grant of various clearances.