Odisha Seeks Centre Nod For Forest Clearance Transfer From POSCO To JSW

New Delhi: With JSW Utkal Steel Ltd proposing to establish a steel plant near Paradip, which was abandoned by POSCO India, the Odisha government has requested the Environment Ministry to transfer the forest clearance to JSW.

The State Government has asked the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) under the Ministry to approve forest land diversion to enable the transfer granted from Posco to JSW.

The matter had come up before the committee on February 21.

“It is clear that Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change in 2011 had granted the approval to POSCO India Pvt Ltd for 30 years. It has also been reported that the new user agency (JSW Utkal Steel Ltd) is also going to establish an integrated steel plant, captive power plant and captive jetty at the same area, which had been diverted to POSCO India Pvt Ltd.,” according to the minutes of the FAC meeting.

“It is also understood that the state government had submitted a proposal for transfer to forest clearance under the provisions of FCA guideline 2.8, which actually deals with ‘lease transfer’, whereas the instant proposal is for the ‘transfer of FC approval’ from one user agency to another user agency. The issue needs legal interpretation,” it said.

The committee said the Environment Ministry will seek legal opinion on the issue of transfer of forest clearance from one user agency to another. It has also asked the Odisha government to submit the ‘shapefile’ of the area diverted to POSCO India Pvt Ltd and area requested by JSW Utkal Steel Ltd along with a comparative statement of the components, which were allowed for POSCO India Pvt Ltd and those proposed for JSW Utkal Steel Ltd.