SC clears Posco's Rs 51,000 cr Orissa steel plant

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today cleared South Korean steel major Posco's plans to set up a Rs 51,000 crore mega steel plant and captive minor port in Paradeep, Orissa.

A special environmental bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan allowed Posco India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Korea-based Posco, to go ahead with the project, for which an agreement was signed with Orissa government on June 22, 2005.

Posco said that the state government-owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) had agreed to supply uninterrupted iron ore and other minerals for its 12 mtpa project.

There was a tie-up with OMC to give raw materials and the mines which were identified were 300 km away from the project site, it said.