Bhubaneswar: Posco-India, a subsidiary of South Korea steel major Posco, on Saturday announced merit scholarships for students from poor families that are being displaced due to its construction activities.

On Friday, the company's T J Park Foundation, a non-profit welfare organisation awarded merit scholarships to 29 students from various educational institutions in Orissa. The foundation is funded and supported by Posco.

Thirty-five more students have been selected for the scholarship on a priority basis, which will be handed over to them later on. All these children are from the economically backward families, the company said in a statement.

The scholarships of $500 each and renewable annually were from the state's leading universities such as Utkal University, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Biju Patnaik University of Technology.

Posco had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government in June 2005 to set up a $12 billion steel plant near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur District. There has been no significant progress on the project since then, due to opposition by the locals. IANS

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