Lucknow, Jan. 28: Union commerce, industry and textiles minister Anand Sharma is believed to have assured the South Korean authorities at the Agra Global Partnership summit that the central government would take appropriate steps to expedite the clearance for the Posco project in Odisha.

Sharma today met Sukwoo Hong, minister of knowledge economy of the Republic of Korea, at the summit and had a closed-door session with him. The South Korean minister is said to have expressed concern over the delay in the clearance of the project.

Hong told Sharma that his country would like to see the success of the Posco project before it made any further commitment on investment in India. He said Posco’s investment proposal “is the largest FDI proposal in India” and the world was watching the progress made by the steel giant. Later, Sharma told reporters that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was personally monitoring the issue.

“We are worried about the delay too. We will surely conduct a review on the matter.”

The $12 billion steel project has run into several hurdles. The MoU for the project was signed in 2005. There has been no tangible progress.

In a statement issued after the meeting between Hong and Kamal Nath, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) said that the Korean side had raised concerns about the delay in the execution of the Posco project.