Posco India is headless

In a development that could indicate South Korean steel giant Pohang Steel Company's (Posco) growing restlessness with its India project, Posco India Chairman and Managing Director Soung Sik Cho has been denied an extension in tenure. He will leave the country this week.

Interestingly, his replacement would be announced only at Posco's board meeting on February 28, leaving the company's Indian subsidiary headless in the ensuing period. The next CMD is also likely to be a Korean national and a member of the board of directors.

Sources close to Posco said the parent company was not happy with the progress of the Indian project in Orissa, which led to Cho's departure. Over three years after signing the MoU, the company has not got iron ore mines nor land. Even the foundation-stone has not been laid yet.

The company chose to play down the development. "This is a routine development. Cho served his tenure of three years and will be flying off to Korea soon," said a company spokesperson. "We have been told that a new CMD would be appointed ... on February 28."