Posco chief heads back home

The ordeal of South Korean steel giant Pohang Steel Company (Posco) to set up an ambitious 12-million tonne steel project in Orissa worth Rs 52,000 crore....

The ordeal of South Korean steel giant Pohang Steel Company (Posco) to set up an ambitious 12-million tonne steel project in Orissa worth Rs 52,000 crore the countrys biggest FDI chunk has taken a new turn with its India chief Soung Sik Cho deciding to leave the country.

The company described Chos return to Korea as part of routine transfer. Cho is leaving India after completion of his three-year tenure during which the company witnessed turbulent times.

Cho,instrumental in signing the MoU with the Orissa government,was at times exasperated because of the delay the project faced from hostile protests over land acquisition to delays in securing prospecting licence for Khandadhar mines in Orissa.

Story continues below this ad

This is a routine transfer as Cho has already completed his three-year tenure. The Posco Board would decide on the appointment of new India chief in due course of time, Poscos chief Delhi representative Vikas Sharan said.

The project has been mired in controversy from the day Posco inked the MoU with Orissa for setting up the plant in 2005. It faced hostile protests from local gram panchayats over its land acquisition efforts.

Unfazed by the events,Cho had undertaken socio-economic survey in the plant site area and gained substantial support from the local people. Another problem was getting prospecting licence from the Centre for Khandadhar mines. The Centre is still awaiting clearance from the mines ministry,despite Orissa governments recommendation . In 2006,after the state asked the Centre to grant the licence,the Centre asked it to re-consider its recommendation. Even the Prime Ministers Office has expressed its anguish over the delays in the South Korean giants project and has asked the state government to expedite clearances.