On July 6, the government of the eastern Indian state of Orissa announced that it will sign a revised memorandum of understanding (MoU) with POSCO-India Ltd, a subsidiary of South Korean steel giant POSCO, for the building of a 12 million mt capacity steel plant near Paradip by the end of July. The previous MoU expired on June 21, 2010.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, the Orissa state government had announced that it would complete the MoU renewal by the end of June. However, it failed to do so for certain reasons including the provision of the MoU proposing POSCO would export 30 percent of its iron ore requirement and import an equal quantity of raw material.
Orissa Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty said, "I am confident the MoU with POSCO-India will be renewed by the end of July. Now both the steel and mines department and law department are thoroughly examining the matter relating to the iron ore export provision in the lapsed MoU."
The Orissa government had signed an MoU with POSCO-India for the first time on June 22, 2005.