A Dossier on Visakhapatnam
Representatives of trade unions of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant write to Union Ministers urging them to stop the disinvestment process.
Steel Plant, September 7, 2011
The trade unions of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant have intensified their protests against Rashtriya Isptat Nigam Limited's decision to offload 10 percent of shares. The representatives of the unions have written to Union Ministers Beni Prasad Varma, V Kishore Chandra Deo and D Purandeswari urging them to intervene and stop divesting 10 percent of the government's shares in the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
Among the unions who are opposing the divesting are CITU, AITUC, INTUC, TNTUC, BMS, HMS and some other independent unions. The representatives of the unions have criticized the Centre for not considering the Steel Plant's demand for allotment of captive mines. They said that had government allotted the VSP the captive mines, it would expand the capacity of the VSP to 6.3 million tonne without seeking any financial help from the Centre.
The union representatives have lauded the performance of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and pointed out that it helped the ex-chequer gain Rs. 21,000 in form of taxes since inception of the plant. They ridiculed the government's decision to raise just Rs. 400 crore by selling away 10 per cent of its equity.
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