Modi Govt’s 'Evil Plans' To Sell Off Visakhapatnam Steel Plant: BRS Opposes Privatisation Of VSP

KTR said that as part of the "conspiracy" to privatise the steel plant, VSP will be pushed into losses and the crisis will be shown as a reason to hand it over to crony private companies.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao said on Sunday that the party vehemently opposes the Union Government’s move to privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) and extends support to steel plant workers who are opposing the disinvestment move.

In an open letter to the Union Government, KT Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR, alleged the Narendra Modi government’s “evil plans” to sell off the VSP to corporate companies, mentioning the reasons for the steel plant’s losses, and ways in which the plant could be revived.

KTR alleged that as part of the "conspiracy" to privatise the steel plant, VSP will be pushed into losses and the crisis will be shown as a reason to hand it over to crony private companies. He claimed that the Union Government did not allow the special iron ore mines to supply the steel plant. Due to this the steel plant is forced to spend up to 60 percent of its production costs on raw materials. On the other hand, the cost of raw materials in private companies production is less than 40 percent as iron ore, coal, and other mines were allotted to them, said KTR.

He further said that VSP, which is forced to spend huge amounts on raw materials, is facing challenges as it is competing with private corporate companies in the market in terms of production. It is facing losses as the enterprise has to sell at the same price as them in the market.

BRS’s working president further said that the enterprise is in distress as coking coal has to be imported, and iron raw materials needed for steel production are being bought at market rate from National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC).

"Due to this, more than 50 per cent of production had to be stopped for a year. All of this is part of a conspiracy to push the Vizag Steel Plant into losses and use it as an excuse to privatise the steel plant. Prime Minister Modi has written off loans worth Rs 12.5 lakh crore for his corporate friends. Why is he not showing the same generosity on the Vizag steel plant?" KTR questioned.

KTR said that the Modi government was inadvertently attempting to transfer control of the PSU to private companies through the Expression of Interest (EoI) notification, which was issued under the guise of raising money for working capital and raw materials. He demanded that the Centre should immediately cancel the EoI notification.