Sunday, July 24 2005 17:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bhubaneswar: CPI (Communist Party of India) and CPI(M) (Communist Party of India Marxist) today (July 24, 2005) opposed the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) signed with South Korean steel giant POSCO for the Rs 51,000 crore steel project at Paradip saying the issue could lead to a state-wide agitation.

''It is a matter of great concern as in the name of liberalisation, it can result in loot of mineral resources,'' CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said here (Bhubaneswar) and demanded changes in the central mining policy.

The POSCO MoU needs to be debated at the national-level and could not be accepted just because it was being dubbed as the largest FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) to come to India, he said adding Enron's Dabhol power project was once described as the biggest ever FDI in the country.

CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said the MoU signed by the Naveen Patnaik Government with the South Korean company should be rejected while urging the people of the state to protest against the proposed project.

Karat and Bardhan were addressing a seminar on 'Our Mineral Wealth and the POSCO Agreement' here.

Describing the MoU as 'lopsided,' the CPI leader said "We are not in such dire straits that a foreign company should dictate terms to us.''