POSCO

[siba.s.nayak]

Orissa Government plans measures to contain people's opposition to POSCO-India's steel project ...

What is your view about POSCO steel project in orissa?
Will it be profitable for Orissa?

[Avijeet]

Here is the news release:
Orissa sees end to POSCO land dispute

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Officials in Orissa will remove "hurdles" blocking land purchases for a $12 billion steel plant planned by South Korea's POSCO within three months, a minister said on Thursday.

The proposed steel plant, which would be India's biggest ever foreign investment, has been facing stiff resistance from villagers, many of whom are unwilling to give up their land.

Some 50 people were injured last month in a series of clashes between opponents and supporters of the project.


Full Article Here

In my opinion, politics was the only obstruction to this. With the existing GoI policies, POSCO has to make an investment in India in the first place. Out of this it includes paying taxes to the respective state govt where they are setting up their industry/plants.
So definately a profit making company like POSCO will extract profit and the govt does get some good amounts. So that means the state govt gets a good amount of money...

[kadampa]

Uprooting of massive population from their lands and livelihoods for establishment of large sized ‘industries’, infrastructure projects and SEZs has become a country-wide phenomenon. With the enactment of the SEZ Act 2005 this process of land grabbing and displacement has gathered momentum. It is ironical that the very same industry, as advocates of “liberalisation and free market economy” does not want to acquire land for its SEZs directly through the “open market”, but forces the state to use antiquated colonial laws such as the Land Acquisition Act coupled with brute force to compel farmers to part from their highly productive land; all in the name of "public purpose". This has turned the Indian ruling classes into mere middle men/ brokers/ property dealers. The implementation of the SEZ policy is creating exclusive enclaves where no laws of the land that protects the rights of the labour and that of the people at large will be applicable, which indicates near total lack of sovereignty of our country. This great offensive of anti-people forces within and without is against whatever rights the workers, peasants and the masses had earned due to their relentless struggles. The people who are struggling against such policies and the people in general have begun to understand the implications of these pro-imperialist industrial and SEZ policies. Massive unemployment, fall in food grain production, exhausting of country’s mineral resources (vital for the development of our country and safeguarding of country’s strategic interests) in the next 20-30 years, plundering of forest, water and other natural resources, handing over of the reigns of the Indian economy to the MNCs and their Indian agents, massive destitution of Indians and the specter of slavery are some of the most drastic consequences of the policies of the Government. A path of industrialisation that converts the vast masses as destitutes and serves imperialist forces is no path of industrialisation for India. Industrial development has to be in the interest of the vast masses of India and to satisfy their needs i.e. catering primarily to the home market of products of mass consumption. The policies of pro-imperialist industrialisation and SEZs that is being thrust on the people of India have to be therefore rejected.

Rightly, therefore, the affected people are resisting such projects and have launched powerful movements against such mindless, anti-people ‘industrialisation’ and SEZs. Anti-SEZ and anti-displacement movements such as in Raigad, Singur, Dadri, Nandigudi, Kalinganagar and Nandigram have shown the path to all such movements across the country. The Anti-POSCO movement in Jagatsinhpur of Orissa against the proposed SEZ by South Korean company POSCO, at Nandigudi, the Singur Movement against land grabbing and other anti-SEZ, anti-land grabbing movements across the country have come into forefront. People are rising against the Government and the corporates across the country and are prepared to lay down their lives to protect their lands and livelihoods. This upsurge of mass movements is perhaps unprecedented, people are raising their voice against pro-imperialist, anti-people industrialisation and SEZ polices of the Government. If we record the violence and oppression that has gone into land acquisition for industry, we can clearly see that this is just the beginning. At Kalinganagar 13 tribals were brutally murdered by the police for a Tata project, once again at Singur and Dadri the police resorted to firing and lathi charge to remove protesters from land acquired by the TATAs and Reliance Energy Generation Limited. In Raigad, Maharastra, police firing was supplemented by violent and intimidating activities by local criminals appointed by Reliance to do so.

For the last two and a half years the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti a coalition of various groups and political parties have been successfully opposing POSCO’s steel plant in Jagatsinhpur. The opposition has been essentially against the forcible acquisition of prime agricultural land and the fact that POSCO has now been granted SEZ status, even though it was willing to invest the same amount of money in India before the SEZ Act came in to place, vindicating the anti SEZ position, that eventually, India’s coffers will be eroded by the shift of domestic/non domestic capital to zero tariff zones. In this fight, on the one side stand the struggling people of the area who want to protect their sustainable ‘Beetle leaf- Paddy farming - Fishing economy’ for themselves and their future generations and on the other side stand the combined force that includes the POSCO company Naveen Pattnaik, his colleagues such as the local pro POSCO agitator, BJD MLA Damodar Rout who is expecting a ministerial berth and senior bureaucrats, all of whom have obviously received hundreds of crores of rupees as kickbacks and finally the goons employed by all these people. The Police and the administration instead of protecting the agitating people is preparing itself to work as a rear guard action force in the interest of POSCO and all the above mentioned anti-people forces.

In the evening of 29th November 2007 about 500 goons with the active support of the state police, forcibly came to the anti POSCO protesters’ tent at Balitutha, where protesters were sitting on a 24 hour vigil for the last 2 months; the goons threw bombs, burnt down the tent and chased away the anti POSCO protestors. The vigil was meant to not allow the Police, POSCO and Prashasan(Administration) to enter their villages. This was the peoples’ way of protesting the proposed acquisition of their 4004 Acres of land for establishment of a Steel Plant and a private sea port in the river mouth of Jatadhari. The proposed port is proposed to come up at a distance of less than 7 kilometers from the already existing major port of Paradeep. A1000 strong group of protestors were successful in pushing these armed goons two times before another gang of 500 goons armed with bombs and weapons attacked the protesters from behind forcing their way through. The government managed to successfully create an entry passage for POSCO to the proposed steel plant area using goons and then within a period of an hour, the police entered Nuagaon village, erected a road blockade at Balitutha and established a camp at the same site where the protesters were sitting; barricaded the road and established another check point near Trilochanpur. 16 platoons of armed police have been stationed in the area including 3 women platoons and they have occupied all the schools and public places of the area. Late in the night of 4th December Sec 144 was clamped around Balitutha.
last week again 50 armed men attacked anti posco supporters and killed Dhula Mandal by a bomb! they were arrested only after the IG Police was forced to come to the spot by the angry protestors.

The political response by the BJD government to the anti POSCO protest clearly shows the importance of Nandigram, after failing to forcibly acquiring land in the recent past through its armed forces, the attack on the POSCO protestors was planned using BJD goons and the police moved in after the protestors were chased away. The police is now refusing entry to the press and civil rights organizations. The state’s use of terror against the people to crush any resistance has now become the norm and so it becomes even more important for all progressive democratic forces to stop the Naveen Patnaik government by rallying behind the anti - POSCO struggles of the peasantry and fisherfolk and give them their utmost support, lest the state combined with the forces of imperialism break this critical point of democratic protest and further unleash their horrors of anti – people development.

[kadampa]

Till the 1975 emergency the middle class (with some sections of the rich) were aligned against the autocracy of Indira Gandhi, and even supported the poor in their struggle for democratic rights.
Since the 1990s and the advent of the new economic policies the middle class has thrown away its facade of tolerance and compassion for the poor and is only interested in more money more money and more money- to do this it is willing to become the lap dog of the rich and powerful and has greedily aligned itself on this "fetish for development" backed by authoritarianism.
This middle class clearly knows that eventually only the rich are getting richer and that only a very small section of the middle class has also moved up to become rich. It even knows that this section which has become richer is ruthless in discarding every institution, relationship, love, affection, tolerance - but will stop at nothing to get even richer. This section has sold out a long time ago - but not even towards an European value of humanism, or even an American idea of but is fascinated by the Singapore authoritarian system of getting things done. The problem is that all this authoritarianism of the rich and the middle class wanting to get things done goes flying out of the window the moment THEY ARE CONFRONTED BY THE LAW. At that time- mobile phones come out, "CONNECTIONS" in high places are called- anything to save their skin. BUT IF THE POOR resist they should be shot!!
The point is that the villagers in POSCO area are anyways running a very profitable EXPORT economy through [i]PAAN KA PATTA[[i] betel leaf cultivation and no where has industry come where the number employed have been greater than those displaced from fertile agriculture.
Put yourself in their place and then see how the world will look with no home no land, but most probably you would have sold out by then and become a dalal/contractor/police informer and sold your soul for money.

[myorissa]

Dear Friend !

Who is this posco ?, where from they ? Is there Korean ? My friend he was working as Asst. Manager in DAWOO Automobile. He get slapped by the Korean Engineer. This people are very much slow poison. Just you see Samasong ? Do you think its quality is very good. Just there dumping garbage in India and getting benifit for there country. This people just they are here to get there benifit, at last Orissa Land will be Full of Pollution, envernment definitel get lost. First of all Orissa River will get worst.

Better We should go for our Indian Company Like Tata. Where ever this company starts, that become mor develope, if you see Pune is the very beaurufull example. They Pay more tax to Governmnt, but they unable to hire the politcs, that is the problem behind. Posco people they know aur LOVI politician very well. So Up to the orissa People what they like ? I think we shoould give the first chance to TATA . It will get more benifits for Orissa.Nothing any more, Now people of Orissa should think which is correct ?????????????????