VIJAYAWADA: The State Assembly on Thursday passed a unanimous resolution opposing the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for 100 percent strategic disinvestment of Centre’s share holding in Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
The Assembly also resolved to seek support of the Centre to make RINL profitable and keep it the ‘pride of Telugu People’ and Andhra Pradesh.
Moving the resolution under Rule 77, Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy said Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had already proposed four measures for reviving VSP and urged the Centre to consider them.
Giving a detailed account of how people of the Telugu State agitated for the steel plant in which 32 lives had been lost, Goutham Reddy said the untiring struggle culminated in the announcement of setting up of the steel plant by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1970. The foundation stone for VSP was laid in 1971.
He said considering the widespread agitation by the trade unions and common public against the proposal to privatise the plant, the State government acknowledged the need for supporting the cause of protecting RINL from disinvestment.
The minister said Jagan sent a detailed letter on February 6, 2021 addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to reconsider the proposal of disinvestment and also suggested alternative solutions that may be helpful to address the issue.