No deadline to Orissa Govt: Posco

South Korean steel behemoth Posco says it has not set any deadline for the Orissa government to acquire land for its proposed Rs 51,000 crore steel project in the state.

South Korean steel behemoth Posco on Monday said it has not set any deadline for the Orissa government to acquire land for its proposed Rs 51,000 crore steel project in the state.

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"The company has not set any deadline to the government," Posco said in a statement.

One of the leading steel producers in the world, Posco, had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Orissa government in 2005 for setting up a 12 million tons integrated steel plant in the state with an investment of about Rs 51,000 crore.

The plant is scheduled to come up in three phases of 4 million tons each but the project has not kicked-off so far due to land acquisition problems.

A senior official of Posco in India said the company needs 4,004 acres for the proposed plant. Of the total land requisitioned by the company, 3,586 acres belongs to Orissa government while the rest to private owners.

He added that the company's total iron ore requirement is pegged to the tune of about 600 million tons for a span of 30 years after the proposed plant reaches optimum production capacity of 12 million tons.

The Orissa Government is scheduled to give a final hearing to 16 more applications for Khandahar Mines, being eyed by Posco, on July 26 before recommending it to the Centre. The mine is estimated to have an iron ore reserve of about 160 million tons.