HYDERABAD: Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Tuesday demanded the Union government to cancel the lease of Bailadilla iron ore mine given to Adani group and allot it to the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) in AP and the proposed Bayyaram steel plant in Telangana.
Speaking to reporters at Telangana Bhavan, Rama Rao alleged that plans to privatise the VSP was a ‘major scam’. He opposed the ‘socialisation of losses and privatisation of profits’ by the Narendra Modi government.
Giving details on the plans of the Centre to allot Bailadilla iron ore reserves to private players, the minister said he was providing all the information about VSP and Bailadilla mines and dared the BJP leaders to file a defamation case against him, if he was wrong. “The national projects are being handed over to some friends of Modi,” he alleged. “Pradhani (Modi) and Adani are looting Telugu states. The BJP is acting against the interests of Telugus”, Rama Rao alleged.
He pointed out that around 134 crore tonnes of iron ore was available at Bailadilla, and its value was Rs 6 lakh crore. “Bailadilla mine is just 150 km from Bayyaram and 600 km from Visakhapatnam. However, rendering injustice to Telugu States, it was allotted to Gujarat, which was 1,800 km from Bailadilla,” Rama Rao pointed out.
He said that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had been opposing privatisation of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). “The BRS government gave orders to BHEL for the construction of power and other projects in the State. The State government preferred LIC for providing insurance to farmers and weavers in Telangana,” Rama Rao added.
Refuting the allegations of BJP State president Bandi Sanjay that the BRS government was more interested in VSP than the Bayyaram, Rama Rao recalled that Telangana had represented the Union government umpteen times to start the steel plant in Bayyaram.
“AP Reorganisation Act-2014, assured that the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) would explore the possibility of establishing a steel plant in Bayyaram. I met the Prime Minister in June, 2018 with a request to lay a slurry pipeline from Bailadilla to Bayyaram for transportation of iron ore. I assured him that the State government will bear 50% of the cost for laying the pipeline. In September 2018, Adani floated a private company. In April 2018, the Union Cabinet decided to allot the Bailadilla mine to Japanese and Korean companies. Later, Adani announced that he would invest Rs 40,000 crore in the steel factory in Gujarat,” Rama Rao reminded.He said that handing over the Bailadilla mine to Adani would adversely affect the Telugu States.