OGP opposes Khandadhar mines in favour of POSCO

Bhubaneswar, Dec 23 (UNI) Orissa Gana Parishad (OGP) today opposed the Naveen Patnaik government's decision to recommend Kandadhar mine in favour of South Korea steel major POSCO and demanded that the mine be kept under the control of the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC).

OGP President Bijaya Mohapatra told newspersons here that for the first time POSCO being a foreign company, got the mining rights in Orissa at the cost of the state exchequer.

He said the Opposition parties, both inside and outside the Assembly had been demanding that all mineral resources in the state be brought under the control of the public sector OMC.

The Opposition stand has been vindicated by the recent Supreme Court judgment in Navbharat case where the Apex Court clearly stated that the chromite mine should be reserved and kept under control of the state-run PSU.

He said following the Supreme Court judgment, the Orissa government should bring all the mines under the control of the OMC instead of recommending them for the private houses sacrificing the interest of the state.

Mr. Mohapatra said it was most unfortunate that the government had recommended mines in favour of POSCO despite the fact that the company has done nothing to establish the proposed 12 MTPA steel plant in Jagatsinghpur district.

He said the mine was earlier allotted to the public sector Kudermukh Steel, a central government undertaking in February 2003 after a discussion with the Union Mines Ministry.

The OGP President said the Kudermukh Steel had undertaken exploration of the mine by spending nearly Rs 2 crores but the state government suddenly in November decided to cancel the mining lease and allotted it in favour of POSCO after its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ku-Taek Lee met the Chief Minister and threatened to quit the project.

Mr Mohapatra said there were as many as 131 applicants for the mine, including the state-owned OMC, but the Naveen Patnaik government ignoring the interest of the state, preferred to hand it over to the POSCO violating all norms and guidelines.

He demanded that the mine should not be allotted to POSCO and instead it should be either brought under the perview of the OMC or given to the public sector Kudermukh Steels.

To a question, the OGP leader said the party would explore the possibility of resorting to legal course of action against the recommendation of mine in favour of POSCO in the light of the Apex court judgment In Navbharat case.

UNI DP KK/SRC KD RK1440