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.