(UNI) POSCO India Chairman cum Managing Director Y W Yoon welcomed the Supreme Court's judgment on recommendation of prospective license (PL) for Khandadhar mine in favour of the company.
In a statement here, Mr Yoon said 'Once we receive the copy of the full judgement, we will be in a better position to comment upon'. He, however, said the judgment will significantly help to expedite the project.
'We are happy that it has come at a time when there has been significant progress on the land clearance work for the project in Odisha,' the POSCO India CMD said.
The Odisha government had first recommended granting of PL to POSCO India in 2006 to the Centre which had returned the recommendation back to the state government the same year and directed it to conduct hearing of all the applicants and submit the recommendation again after hearing all the applicants.
Based on this, the state government concluded hearing of all the applicants over a time spanning around two and half years and after conclusion re-recommended the same in favour of POSCO India to the Centre in 2009.
Odisha High Court, however, has struck down the Odisha government's decision to recommend PL for Khandadhar minesin favour of POSCO India in 2010.
POSCO India and the Odisha government had challenged the order of the high court in the apex court.
Mr.Yoon said since the apex court has set aside the judgment of Odisha High Court, he hoped that the Central Government will expeditiously look into the recommendation leading to a final decision soon. UNI
