BHUBANESWAR: The State Government is likely to renew the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the South Korean company Posco by end-June for establishment of the steel plant near Paradip as the land acquisition work has picked up slowly. “I hope that the State Government will renew MoU with Posco beforeend of June,” Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty told mediapersons here. The State Government has decided to hold a meeting soon to take a decision on the MoU renewal with Posco-India, official sources said. The next meeting between the State Government officials and Posco-India executives, is significant as decisions on some key matters like iron ore swapping, possible change in the water source for the steel plant and reservation of jobs for local youths will be taken. The swapping clause in the previous MoU considered as an important point likely to be excluded in the renewed MoU. In his May 2 order according the final forest clearance to the Posco steel project, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh had advised the State Government to renegotiate the terms of the MoU to avoid export of raw material which was in the original MoU. The MoU between the State Government and Posco-India had lapsed on June 21, 2010. It was signed on June 22, 2005. After the Centre accorded final forest clearance to the project, the biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country, the land acquisition work has started in right earnest. The renewal of the MoU is most essential as many people have raised questions on the legality of land acquisition by the State Government without having a valid memorandum of understanding. Non-existence of an MoU generates suspicion among the local people, many supporters of the project said. Meanwhile, the Jagatsinghpur district administration on Tuesday, on 10th day of land acquisition, took 67 betel vines into possession and gave compensation worth ` 4.11 crore to the farmers.
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