Critics lash out at POSCO’s Orissa project
South Korean steel giant POSCO's 12 million-ton steel project in
India's Orissa state has become the subject of criticism from the left as well as certain Indian steel producers.
Members of the left object to the possible signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between POSCO and the Orissa government. They claim that the project is a misuse of the country's natural resources since the proposed MoU will grant POSCO access to 1 billion tons of
iron ore. On the other hand, Indian producers are against POSCO's project since it may lead to overcapacity once their own proposed projects in the same region are taken into account.
In response to the left's claims, POSCO officials said that they would follow all policy guidelines of the both the national and Orissa governments. POSCO also clarified that MoU would allow them to use 600 million tons of
iron ore, not 1 billion tons as claimed by the left.