Conditional green clearance for Posco

• After putting the project on hold last year, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today granted conditional clearance for South Korean major Posco's $ 12 billion steel mill project in Orissa.
• Mr. Ramesh also asked Orissa government to give a categorical assurance that those claiming to be dependent on or cultivating the land in the Posco project area do not belong to the other traditional forest dwellers (OTFD) category under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. This, according to him, would make it clear that there are no legally tenable claims of non-tribals wanting recognition as OTFDs under the FRA.
• In August last year, Environment Ministry had directed the Orissa government to stop land acquisition for Korean steel giant Posco because it violates the Forest Rights Act.
• The State government and Pohang Steel Company (POSCO), signed an MoU on June 22, 2005 for setting up an integrated steel plant of a total capacity of 12 million tonnes per annum at Paradeep in Jagatsinghpur district.
• The MoU also envisaged that the company would develop and operate a mining project in areas allocated by the government; a transportation project which includes a dedicated railway line, road and port; integrated township and water supply infrastructure.