Nirmala Sitharaman clarifies on privatisation of Vizag steel plant, says AP has no equity share in it

The Central government has made it clear that the state government is not involved in the Visakhapatnam steel plant affair. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave a written reply to a question posed by YSRCP MP MVV Satyanarayana in the Lok Sabha.

The state has no equity share in the Visakhapatnam steel plant and the centre is withdrawing 100 per cent of the investment, she said. Nirmala Sitharaman said that Visakha Steel was being privatized for better productivity and opined that the decision was taken to increase direct and indirect employment.

With the central government's decision to privatise the Visakhapatnam steel plant, there are large-scale concerns in Andhra Pradesh. With the exception of the BJP, all political parties and various civil society groups have taken to the streets to protest.

The recent state bandh under the auspices of the Steel Conservation Committee was a success. In this context, the latest written reply given by the Union Finance Minister in the Lok Sabha is big blow to the people concerned to the Visakhapatnam steel plant.