Korean President Geun-hye Park, who is visiting India as a national guest, held a summit conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and received approval for Korean enterprise to support the Indian government in constructing a steelworks in the State of Orissa. Accordingly, POSCO expects to speed up the administrative approval processes, including mining rights approval, and construction site securement, which has been in progress since a local subsidiary was established in August 2005.
POSCO signed an MoU with the State Government of Orissa in June 2005 regarding steelworks sites, mining rights, and the provision of exclusive ports, and implemented a 12 million ton steelworks construction project with a USD 12B investment. However, lawsuits concerning iron ore exploration rights arose as well as delays in securing sites owned by the state, creating difficulty in fully implementing the project.
POSCO plans to focus on securing mining rights timed in relation to steelworks completion, considering the time needed to complete mine development after receiving iron ore exploration rights approval, and will continue to prepare the basis for steelworks construction including site securement and infrastructure connection.
The steelworks to be built in the state of Orissa is competitive, with plans to apply POSCO’s patented environment-friendly FINEX technology, and will have a direct employment effect of approximately 18,000 hires.
