CM YS Jagan to lead all-party team to Delhi on VSP disinvestment

Amaravati: As massive protests erupted in the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) on Tuesday following a statement by Union finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman in the Lok Sabha on Monday that the Centre would go ahead with the privatisation of steel plant, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterating the demand to reconsider the decision and seeking his appointment to meet an all-party delegation.

The Chief Minister in his letter said that he would lead an all-party delegation and representatives of trade unions "to represent to you directly the concerns being expressed by the people of Andhra Pradesh, employees and various stakeholders."

The Opposition parties see this as a damage-control exercise in view of the urban local body elections and the outburst of anger by the employees who have blocked the national highway for the past 24 hours.

The APCC said it was an eyewash. Jana Sena said the government did not consult any opposition party on CM taking a delegation to Delhi. It was his unilateral decision. The CPI said the State Government will have to pay a heavy price for his decision.

"It is a matter of great concern for the people of Andhra Pradesh, employees of RINL and other stakeholders," the Chief Minister remarked, referring to Sitharaman's statement. Referring to his February 6 letter on the subject, Jagan said in a fresh letter that the plant would again become a profitable venture by implementing some turnaround measures, with some support from the Government of India, instead of taking the disinvestment route.

Allotting captive iron ore mines (for the steel plant) to bring down the input costs, swapping high-cost debt with low- cost debt, converting debt into equity and monetizing vacant land (of the plant) were some of the 'turnaround measures', the Chief Minister suggested.