POSCO CEO meets Patnaik, says plant will prosper state economy

New Delhi, Dec 12 (UNI) With a view to take support from the Orissa government for the proposed steel plant set-up, POSCO's CEO Ku-Taek Lee today met Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and put forth the latest National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) report.

According to the findings of the report, the plant will fuel the state economy in terms of increasing in its gross output, employment and value addition.

The key points discussed included the progress of the project in Orissa, its economic impact on the state, steps taken by POSCO-India towards creating suitable infrastructure for the initiation of the project.

Mr Lee expressed POSCO's commitments towards the realisation of the India project to Mr Patnaik and appreciated the support received from both the state and central government.

Reassuring commitment to the project, Mr Lee expressed POSCO's support to the economic development of the state in a long-term perspective and making Orissa the steel hub of India in the coming years.

He also emphasised that POSCO-India will grow together with the state and the community as POSCO has grown with the Korean economic over the years.

Prior to his visit to Orissa, Mr Lee also met Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in Delhi.

Earlier, POSCO had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Orissa government in June 2005, to set up a 12-mtpa green field steel plant with an estimated investment of 12 billion dollars.

The company will build a four million tonnes capacity steel plant in Orissa, during the first phase of its project between 2007 and 2010 and expand the final production volume to 12 million tonnes.

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