Our Bureau

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 21 Close on the heels of POSCO’s announcement to start work on its steel project in Orissa from April 1, 2008, the Chief Minister of Orissa, Mr Naveen Patnaik, has said that he was ready for a dialogue with those opposing steel venture in Jagatsinghpur district of the State.

Talking to presspersons on his return from New Delhi on Saturday, Mr Patnaik said he was ready for a dialogue with anyone opposing the project.

During a meeting between Mr Patnaik and the top brass of POSCO in New Delhi on Friday, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Ku-Taek Lee, had said that the company would perform the ground breaking ceremony for the project in Jagatsinghpur on April 1, 2008.

In another development, POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) on Sunday rejected Mr Naveen Patnaik’s offer for a dialogue with those opposing the project.

Terming Mr Patnaik’s offer for dialogue “a political pretension,” the President of PPSS, Mr Abhay Sahu, said that the organisation will continue its opposition to the project and will not allow the Government to handover any land to the company in the area selected for the mega steel plant.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu Business Line