Orissa Government decides to exclude 300 acre land under Dhinkia for proposed POSCO plant

In a significant development Orissa Government decides to exclude 300 acres private land under Dhinkia panchayat for the South Korean steel Major’s proposed steel plant.

The decision was taken after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik meets MLAs and MP from Jagatsinghpur district. The meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was also attended by legislators of Paradip, Jagatsinghpur, Balikuda, Ersama and Jagatsinghpur MP Bibhu Prasad Tarai. Industries minister Suryanarayan Patro and chief secretary also attended the meeting.

This apart, the government has also decided to initiate talks with the agitators to break the deadlock. In the primary stage, RDC level talks will be initiated. The Jagatsinghpur MP Bibhu Prasad Tarai who would act as an interlocutor has been asked to nominate names of five persons within three days representing Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti.

After the meeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik says to media “We had discussion with MP and MLAs of Jagatsinghpur district about the Posco project. It was agreed that all cooperation will be extended to this project. The collector of Jagatsinghpur will negotiate with the affected persons to finalize a package. The RDC will have discussions with those having reservations about the project and I expect the process to be completed in few days. Now, government will advise Posco not to take private lands of people belonging to Dhinkia village.”