Fresh Posco MoU to have changes

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the opposition to the Posco’s steel plant is mounting, the process for renewal of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) has started.  Posco has agreed to the State Government’s new employment policy for projects, Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty told this paper on Sunday. With this, one of the disagreements on the revised MoU has been settled.As per the new employment policy, 90 per cent of the unskilled workers and 60 per cent of the semi-skilled and skilled workers in a project will have to be from local areas. Besides, locals will also have to be appointed in 30 per cent supervisory jobs.However, a decision is yet to be taken on the crucial issue of export of iron ore. While granting the final forest clearance to the project on May 2, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had advised the State Government to negotiate the issue with Posco to delete the provision from the revised MoU. But the Commerce Ministry has not objected to the provision.Sources said decks for the renewal of the MoU will be cleared after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik decides on the issue. A final decision on the renewal of the MoU will be taken with Posco by the month-end. There will be several other changes in the revised MoU to be finalised soon.Preliminary work on the project has already started on the acquired land in the face of strong opposition by political parties.The MoU, signed on June 22, 2005, for establishment of 12 million tonne per annum capacity integrated steel plant near Paradip, lapsed on June 21 last year.