BHUBANESWAR: The renewal of memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Posco for the establishment of 12 million tonne capacity steel plant near Paradip may miss the July-end deadline as the South Korean company is yet to give its opinion on deletion of the swapping clause. Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty told this paper that the South Korean company is yet to respond to the State Government’s letter seeking its opinion on swapping of iron ore and several other provisions. The Government had sought its opinion two weeks back. Besides the scrapping of the swapping clause which was in the original MoU, other provisions proposed for the renewal included setting up of downstream and ancillary units with a focus on local entrepreneurs. The Government also wants Posco to implement the new employment policy. This is for the third time that the deadline for the renewal of MoU will have to be extended. The earlier deadlines were set for June-end and July 15. Senior officials, however, maintained that the land acquisition for the Posco project can continue since the Government had the final forest clearance for the project from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
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