CBI probe into Rourkela Steel Plant slag scam sought
ROURKELA: Trade unions of Rourkela Steel Plant have demanded a CBI probe into the alleged scam in Blast Furnace Granulated (BFG) Slag.
A statement of the RSP on Thursday claimed that due to storage space constraint, lack of rail transport logistics and low market price of BFG Slag, e-auction could not be done.
RSP insiders said in the last two years, the RSP suffered loss of at least `100 crore and the figure, if calculated since 2010-11, would go past `500 crore.
They said under a calculated move, a few senior executives had been preventing e-auction of BFG Slag and selling it at listed price of `275 per tonne for rail transport and `330 per cubic metre (equivalent to one tonne) for road sale.
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, in a letter to Union Steel Minister Choudhury Birendra Singh in March, had also described it as an ‘intentionally motivated decision’ of a few senior executives under the knowledge of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for ‘pecuniary benefits’ and favouring local cement major OCL (India) Ltd.
They said there is abundant space to stock BFG Slag for more than one month near BF-IV and V and under extreme circumstances, the RSP could have used its own tippers, excavators and loading contractor at no extra cost to shift slag to adjacent areas.
National vice-president of AITUC-affiliated All-India Steel Workers’ Federation Pravat Mishra said against the management’s claim that only five to six railway rakes were available, sources in the Traffic and Raw Materials Department confided that at least 15 rakes could have been available in a month. He said if there was no demand for BFG Slag, then how prices increased abruptly by three times in e-auction. He said besides CBI, other Central agencies should investigate to bring out the truth and recover the loss from those involved in irregularities.
General secretary of INTUC-affiliated Rourkela Shramik Sangh Prashant Behera also reiterated demand for CBI probe.