VISAKHAPATNAM: A five-member delegation of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), including three directors, visited Visakhapatnam Steel Plant on Tuesday to study the feasibility of participating in the Expression of Interest (EOI) for partnership with RINL, the corporate entity of VSP, for providing working capital or supply of raw material to the plant.
SCCL directors Satyanarayana Rao, Subba Rao and Balaram held talks with the RINL marketing officials. Later they met RINL directors Venugopala Rao, Bagchi and Mohanty and discussed the possibilities of participating in the EOI. They also reportedly enquired about the working capital requirement of the steel plant and steel products to be supplied by it in turn.
Meanwhile, sources said the EOI evoked a good response as 10 firms have already shown interest in it. The last date for submission of EOI is April 15. In the second phase, the participants of EOI will be short-listed for bidding.
The issue once again resulted in a political slugfest. YSRC general secretary and Government Advisor (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the CPI and CPM have also joined the TDP, which championed privatisation of industries, on the steel plant issue.
“It was TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who closed down several government institutions in the name of reforms. Naidu was a champion of privatisation, while it is Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who merged the APSRTC with the State government,’’ he said and alleged that a false campaign was being unleashed on the VSP issue.
Affirming that it was Jagan who first reacted against privatisation of the steel plant, Sajjala said the Chief Minister made some suggestions for protection of the steel plant and added that during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi he raised the same issue.
“Jagan made some constructive proposals on the steel plant. Even Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao today made similar suggestions. The Chief Minister urged the Centre to allocate captive mines to the steel plant,’’ Sajjala said.
In Hyderabad, Telangana Industries Minister KT Rama Rao said they would take a decision on participating in the EOI once the officials submit a report. Responding to this, AP Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath said participating in the bid is nothing but supporting the Centre’s proposal to privatise the steel plant.
As per the Union Finance Ministry guidelines issued one-and-a-half years ago, PSEs of the Centre and the State governments are not eligible to participate in the bidding and the YSRC is totally against privatisation of the steel plant, he asserted.
Meanwhile, Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee leaders met the SCCL delegation and welcomed its gesture to participate in the EOI. Porata Committee chairman D Adinarayana said the Centre has invited EOI so as to hand over the VSP to private companies through back door. SAIL should also participate in the EOI.
The Telangana government could supply 19% of coking coal and boiler coal and buy VSP products. The Telangana government’s bid should be accepted. “If their bid is rejected, we will launch an agitation in both the Telugu States,” he threatened.
Porata Committee chairman Ch Narasinga Rao hailed the Telangana government’s decision to participate in the EOI. He said the move by the Telangana government was a slap on the face of the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government. The Centre had gone back on privatisation of Singareni after the Telangana government said it would acquire the collieries if they are privatised, he pointed out.
BRS State president Thota Chandrasekhar said the BJP government’s agenda was to privatise PSUs. The AP government and the political parties totally failed in stalling the VSP privatisation.“Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will take a decision on participating in the bid after studying the feasibility,” he added.