The Orissa government has moved the Supreme Court on Friday against the high court order that stopped the granting of an iron ore prospecting licence to South Korean steel major Posco.
Orissa steel minister Raghunath Mohanty said the state government's recommendation in favour of Posco was made on the basis of the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act.
The high court had ordered the state government on July 14, in response to a petition by Karnataka-based Geomin Mineral and Marketing Ltd (GMML), to consider all the other applications for mining leases in four months.
Meanwhile, Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik suggested centre-state joint efforts to implement the Posco project.
Posco signed an accord with the state in June 2005 to set up a $12-billion (R 54,000 crore) green-field plant near Paradip port to produce 12 million tonne steel a year.
"It is the responsibility of the central government also to see that major projects like Posco are being implemented," Patnaik said. This is a departure from Patnaik's previous statements, accusing the Centre of spiking the project.