How Odisha Chief Minister Made It Possible For Posco To Re-Enter The State

Looks like the Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi is on a mission mode to attract big investment into his state. Majhi’s target is to secure a total investment of Rs 5 lakh crore in five years. He had already secured Rs 45,000 crore when his government completed 100 days in September 2024. Now, he has managed to convince South Korea steel major Posco to re-enter India via a joint venture with Sajjan Jindal’s JSW. It may be recalled that the Posco project was mired in red tape and was hanging fire that finally led the Korean major to pull out from Odisha. Now with 50:50 JV with JSW the chief minister has promised iron ore mine allotment for its 5 lakh MTPA Integrated steel plant at Keonjhar which also happens to be the hometown of the CM. Apart from this, both Posco and JSW will also be exploring synergies in battery manufacturing for the EV market and also renewable energy options to sustainably power the new steel plant. Analysts now view the JSW-Posco collaboration as a new power play and a win-win strategy bringing in fusion between JSW’s manufacturing expertise and Posco’s advance steel making technology supported by India’s growing market backed by the Odisha government. It is still early days now, sources say at JSW but a detailed stepwise action plan will surely evolve through a work-in-progress schedule.