One of the key stumbling blocks is the provision of swapping of iron ore in the original MoU. While granting the final forest clearance for the Posco project, Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh had said there should not be any export of iron ore from Posco. The state government is yet to take a decision on this. As per the original MoU, Posco India is allowed to swap up to 30% of its iron ore requirement of 600 million tonne ore for blending purposes.
This provision led to widespread criticism with doubts being raised that the South Korean company would take away iron ore from Orissa without value addition in the state in the government told FE that the government was looking at a way out by taking the view that the export-import of minerals came under the purview of the Union commerce ministry and not MoEF. The swapping clause was as per the law of the land and the concerned ministry had not said anything on the swapping clause. However, the government would take a fresh view on this issue, sources said. Read the full report here.
Source: Dilip Bisoi, Financial Express, Bhubaneswar.
