South Korean steel major Posco's beleagured Rs 52,000 crore (Rs 520 billion) project near Paradip has received a boost with the Centre according environmental clearance to its captive minor port at Jatadhari mouth in Jagatsinghpur district.
The clearance has been issued by the Union ministry of environment and forest for construction of the port which has been facing opposition from various quarters on environmental ground.
"Now POSCO-India Ltd is free to start work on the port project," a senior official of the company told PTI in Bhubaneswar
on Monday.
Posco-India Ltd chairman-cum-managing director Soung-Sik Cho had recently told PTI in an interview that the company would require the port as it was a 'basic need' for the 12 MTPA project along with captive mines.
"These (port and mine) are basic needs without which you cannot survive in global business," he had said.
Opposition political parties and environment groups had objected to Posco-India's plan to have a captive port at the mouth of the Jatadhari creek, about 12 km south of Paradip port, saying it might harm the existing major port nearby.
