Thousands of villagers protested at the site of a $12 billion steel plant by South Korea's POSCO on Saturday, as women and children were used as human shields in the latest outbreak of local anger that has long-delayed India's biggest foreign investment project.
The steel project in the eastern state of Orissa has been continuously hampered by local anger at the land acquisition for the 4 million tonnes plant, a huge roadblock for infrastructure projects all across the country and a headache for investors in the sector.
POSCO signed the agreement for the mill in 2005 and it was scheduled to begin production by the end of 2011. Protests, environmental worries and government reports into alleged illegalities over a related mining concession have delayed the project. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh gave the plant clearance in January on certain conditions, including ensuring that tribal rights and forest protection laws are observed.
The Orissa government started acquiring land for the world's third-biggest steel company after the environment ministry's January approval. The local government officials were persuading the villagers to back away and not use women and children as human shields, local media said.
Local people, who say the mill would ruin their lives by depriving them of their forest-based livelihood, have refused to budge so far. "They did not move despite repeated warnings," special land acquisition officer N.C. Swain told Reuters.
POSCO needs 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) of land. Swain said the government had already acquired 1,800 acres. "We will not allow them to enter into the site. We will continue our protest peacefully," Prasant Paikray, a protester, said. "We will fight this battle until last breath," he said. Paikray accused the authorities of acquiring land forcibly.
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