The Orissa Government has rejected the demand to scrap POSCO’s steel project, saying that the INR 51,000 crore project could contribute 11.5% to the state’s gross domestic product in terms of value addition.

Dismissing the demand by the BJP and the CPI to scrap the project and not to renew the MoU with the South Korean steel major which lapsed on Monday, Mr Raghunath Mohanty steel and mines minister of Orissa said that “POSCO-India project will immensely benefit the state’s economy.”

Quoting a study conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research, the Minister said that the POSCO-India project would alone contribute about 11.5% to the state’s GDP in terms of value-addition. He said that “It will create about 870,000 of direct and indirect employment, of which 18,000 will be direct employment.”

He also rejected the demand by anti POSCO agitators for shifting the proposed steel plant site near Paradip.

Mr Mohanty told PTI in an interview that “There is no plan to shift the location of the project adding that the proposed site was most suitable to set up a Greenfield port-based 12 million tonnes per annum steel mill.”

(Sourced from PTI)