Posco scraps $5.3b steel plant in Karnataka
Bengaluru: In a major setback to the state government Posco – a subsidiary of South Korean steel giant, the Pohang Steel Company Limited – on Tuesday decided to scrap its proposed 6 MTPA (million tonne per annum) steel plant project in Karnataka.
The company’s decision to pull out of a $5.3 billion steel mill in the state follows delays in land acquisition and adverse market conditions, including the ban on iron ore mining.
Posco had signed an MoU with the Karnataka government at the Global Investors’ Meet in Bengaluru in 2010 to set up the plant. In January 2011 they zeroed in on a 3,000-acre land in Gadag and notified the Karnataka Industrial Area DeveloÂpÂment Board accordingly and paid an initial deposit of Rs 60 crore to the Board.
According to an official statement the hearing for land acquisition was held with the land owners in June 2011 but due to agitations by some “farmers and religious leaders it was held back and finally, halted in July 2011. In addition, the mining scam in the State made the project progress even stagnant,” the company statement added.
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