Lopsided policies of Centre responsible for losses of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, alleges CITU State general secretary

The Chief Minister is making baseless statements against the steel plant as he had no guts to question the Union government, says Narasinga Rao

The losses being incurred by Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) are due to the lopsided policies of the Centre, CITU State general secretary Ch. Narasinga Rao alleged at a media conference here on Friday. Responding to a query raised by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at an earlier press conference on the reasons for the failure of VSP to make profits unlike private steel plants, the CITU leader criticised the Chief Minister saying that he was making baseless statements against VSP as he had no guts to question the Union government.

Mr. Narasinga Rao said that VSP has created records by attaining 120% of its production capacity. Though the Centre had not given a single rupee during the last 30 years, the plant had enhanced its capacity from 32 lakh tonnes, a year, to 73 lakh tonnes, a year, with the funds generated on its own. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the plant had made profits, he said.

He alleged that due to political reasons, VSP was made to spend ₹2,000 crore unnecessarily on the Rail Wheel Plant at Rae Bareli. It was also made to spend ₹1,000 crore on the Odisha Mining Development Corporation (OMDC) though it was not given a single tonne of iron ore. VSP had paid ₹58,000 crore to the Centre in the form of dividend and taxes, Mr. Narasinga Rao said

The merger of VSP with SAIL would not cost a single paise to the Centre. Further, SAIL has set for itself a target of producing an additional 20 million tonnes of steel. The merger would benefit both the public sector entities, he said.

Mr. Narasinga Rao alleged that Essar Steel had incurred debts to the tune of ₹55,000 crore and went bankrupt. The Centre had waived the loans taken from banks and had handed over the company to Arcelor Mittal through the Tribunal. He also found fault with the Chief Minister for praising such private steel plants. The CPI(M) leader said that the Centre has allocated ₹1,260 crore for sending home 3,000 VSP workers through VRS. He said that the funds could have been used to increase the production of the plant. He also alleged that the VSP management was directed to terminate the services of 5,000 contract workers. The Visakha Ukku Porata Parirakshana Committee (VUPPC) has decided to intensify its agitation against privatisation of VSP, Mr. Narasinga Rao said.

CITU district committee general secretary R.K.S.V. Kumar and district secretary B. Jagan were present at the media conference.

Published - September 20, 2024 08:35 pm IST