POSCO India
United Nations independent human rights experts have urged POSCO to immediately halt the construction of its steel plant in Odisha in Eastern India. POSCO has invested US$12 billion (approximately 12.882 trillion won) for this project.
A group of eight human rights experts under the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on October 1 that POSCO’s construction project “threatens to displace over 22,000 people in the Jagatsinghpur District, and disrupt the livelihoods of many thousands more in the surrounding area.” This statement was made in response to a human rights report last June that warned that tens of thousands of people in Odisha are at risk of forced evictions by the local government.
World’s #4 steelmaker POSCO plans to build India’s #1 steel plant in Odisha with a production volume of 12 million tons. This is projected to be the largest foreign investment project in India’s history.
However, POSCO’s plans have been postponed for eight years due to various legal restrictions regarding land purchases and environmental issues. Recently, it has succeeded in purchasing land from the local government and resolved the issue regarding renewal of environmental licensing. However, they now meet with resistance by local residents who argue a violation of human rights.