VISAKHAPATNAM: Proposal to set up a steel plant by South Korean steelmaker POSCO in a joint venture with Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) is likely to run into rough weather since all trade unions and Left parties have been opposing the proposal to give VSP land to POSCO.
Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) leader Mantri Rajasekhar said on Thursday all trade unions were opposing the proposal. He said the steel plant, launched with 1.7 million tonnes capacity, was later expanded to 7.3 million tonnes without any financial support from the Centre.
He said it will be mutually beneficial if a steel plant was set up by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) in partnership with public sector undertakings National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) or Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), which have captive iron ore mines.
Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) State president Ch Narasinga Rao said the Centre was planning to sanction land worth Rs 45,000 crores to the South Korean giant on a platter. He demanded the State government to clarify its stand on POSCO proposal. He said no private steel plant has been set up in the past 10 years.
While a couple of private steel plants were sold in the recent past, the public sector plants were performing well. He said the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was not given captive mines due to which the plant was incurring high production cost.
Communist Party of India (CPI) State joint secretary JV Satyanarayana Murthy said POSCO will hardly invest Rs 5,000 crores in the project.
He said the VSP was paying tax to the tune of Rs 17,000 crores and at least one lakh people are directly or indirectly dependent on the Navaratna company.
He said POSCO will be given 2,768 acres for setting up a fully automated plant. There will not be any high employment generation. The entry of POSCO in the sector will halt the expansion of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in future, he said.
POSCO has been making unsuccessful attempts for the past several areas to locate a steel plant in a coastal area, he said, adding that it was now eyeing Visakhapatnam to set up the plant.
Rajasekhar said, “We will fight tooth and nail against the entry of private sector plant. The land should be returned to the farmers, who gave it to the VSP and not be handed over to POSCO. Another problem is, POSCO may not implement the rule of reservation.”
A total bandh was observed in Gajuwaka recently and indicating the people’s opposition to the proposal, he said. POSCO had earlier made attempts to locate steel plants in Odisha and West Bengal in 2005 and 2008, respectively.
Narasinga Rao said the State government should oppose the joint venture in the interests of Andhra Pradesh and its people.