Paradip: Legally speaking, the state government cannot acquire lands for the Posco project, nor can construction work be started at the designated site as the project has no environment clearance in hand, official sources said.

"The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2006, forbids activity of any nature at the site without environmental clearance," a senior official in the industry department said on Wednesday, quoting the existing law. He described the latest episode of the state government demolishing betel vines of farmers in the proposed plant site as 'highly illegal' and 'unconstitutional'.

Bowing down to pressure from various Opposition political parties and civil society organisations, the Orissa government on Wednesday put off the land acquisition process for the 12-million-tonne Posco India integrated steel project at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.

The government also withdrew the 14 platoons of police forces it deployed at Gobinpur village, a part of the project site, as demanded by leaders of various political parties and Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the local CPI-backed anti-displacement forum.

BHUBANESWAR: Widespread resentment is growing against the state government for suddenly sending armed police forces to suppress agitating villagers and acquire their lands for the Posco project which has been entangled in a host of litigations. The government renewed the process of land acquisition for the South Korean steel giant on Sunday even though the National Green Tribunal had earlier suspended the final environmental clearance (EC) given to it by the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF).

Hundreds of police forces swooped down on Gobindapur village early on Sunday morning and seized the entire area from all sides as officials started pulling down betel vines, one of the major source of livelihood for the local tribals. The government had earlier conducted a similar exercise and claimed to have taken possession of over 2,000 acres of land from the villagers.

Policy could end land acquisition and green nod problems, and encourage foreign investors

The new steel policy, likely to be announced in a month, is expected to iron out issues related to foreign direct investments, land acquisitions and environment clearances. The draft of the new policy, seen as a stimulus measure, has been circulated for final comments and it would be announced soon, a senior steel ministry official told Business Standard.

The first phase of Posco’s $12-billion Orissa project — India’s single-largest foreign direct investment — could start churning out steel by 2018, three persons with direct knowledge of the develop

Asian Development Bank (ADB) today cautioned that worsening global financial situation will have severe consequences for emerging economies like India and China.

"This global slump (in US, Euro area and Japan) will have a serious slump on the region's major economies, particularly on India and China" ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said at a FICCI seminar here.

Agra: The government on Monday said it will review South Korean steel firm Posco's R 52,000-crore project, which has been stuck for long over land acquisition and other regulatory issues.

The assurance was given by commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma to a visiting South Korean delegation at the ongoing partnership summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. "We are committed to the smooth offtake of the Posco project and will look into the recent developments to expedite the project in consultation with the state agencies. The first meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Investment is day after tomorrow (January 30)," Sharma added.

A day after the Supreme Court sought the government’s response on the safeguards in place to protect small traders from the arrival of FDI in multi-brand retail, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma Wednesday said that “all institutions should respect the constitutional demarcation between the executive, legislation and judiciary”.

The Indian economy is passing through “a difficult phase” currently and it is important to “retain the trust and confidence of foreign investors in the country’s investment regime”, Sharma, who is in Davos to attend the annual World Economic Forum, said in a statement issued by his ministry in New Delhi.

Is FDI in retail a "political gimmick"?, the Supreme Court today asked the Government while seeking its response on how it intends to safeguard the interest of small traders after opening up the retail sector to foreign direct investments (FDI).

The apex court said that interest of small traders should not be affected by FDI in retail sector. The apex court said that there is apprehension in the mind of small traders that their business would be affected with the coming of multinational companies in retail sector which needs to be allayed by the government by putting some regulatory mechanism.

The National Fishermen Forum (NFF) on Sunday decided to observe Monday as the National Day of Protest against the commissioning of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project.

A resolution adopted at the general body of the forum said that the commissioning of the project would ruin the livelihood of hundreds of fishermen in southern coastal districts of Tamil Nadu. Several cases had been filed against the fishermen who held peaceful agitations. The Tamil Nadu government should immediately withdraw the cases and arrest warrants against those protesting against the nuclear project.