BENGALURU: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday assured the Assembly that Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Limited (VISL) in Bhadravathi will not be shut. This comes days after Union Minister for Steel Jyotiraditya Scindia informed the Rajya Sabha that the VISL will be closed due to the unavailability of a captive iron ore mine, high cost and low volume of production due to obsolete technology, highly competitive alloy steel market and other factors.
Bommai said that the State Government will urge the Union Government to not close the plant. “We will call for expressions of interest from interested bidders to revive VISL. I have also spoken to steel industrialists... They were positive of reviving VISL. We will make all attempts to ensure that the plant is not shut,” Bommai said, while replying to Bhadravathi MLA Sangamesh who raised the issue during the Zero Hour.
Former CM BS Yediyurappa too said that members cutting cross party lines do not want VISL to be shut. He urged Bommai to convince the Centre to not shut the unit. Bommai said VISL is Karnataka’s pride and is the first steel plant in South India. “The quality of steel produced here is good... Several attempts were made in the past to revive it,” Bommai elaborated, saying he has written to Scindia in this regard.