South Korean steel major Posco will start construction of its 12 million tonne, Rs 51,000-crore mega steel project near Paradip in Orissa on April 1, 2008.
Posco chief executive Officer Ku-Taek Lee said this during his meeting with Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in New Delhi today.
Lee, who is in Delhi to attend the fourth quarter executive board meeting of Posco, called on Patnaik along with other board members and discussed the project.
He said construction work of the project would commence on April 1, 2008, which happens to be the 40th anniversary of the Korean steel behemoth and also the day on which Orissa got statehood.
Lee allayed fears about the company shutting down its site office at Kujanga in Jagatsinghpur district.
Earlier this week, Posco India Chairman and Managing Director Soung-Sik-Cho wrote to the Orissa chief minister expressing his concern over the security of staff visiting the project site, following the abduction by groups opposed to the project.
He stated that the company could not begin land preparatory work unless the state government provided security and support.
Patnaik said his government was working on a structured programme to address all aspects of the project and that issues like land acquisition and mining lease would be sorted out in consultation with the Union government in two to three months.
"We will see that the project sails through smoothly. This is also going to be the biggest ever foreign investment in India. So it is extremely important," the chief minister said.
Posco needs 4,000 acres for the project, but it has been able to buy just about a quarter of it. Patnaik said displaced villagers would be compensated adequately.
The chief minister urged the Posco CEO to commence construction of transit accommodation and a training centre for project displaced people at the earliest, which the company boss agreed to do immediately.