BJP faces flak over auction on Adilabad CCI unit

Hyderabad: Soon after IT Minister KTR's request to stop the auction of Adilabad Cement Corporation of India, now MLC K Kavitha has demanded the Centre to stop the proposed auction on CCI. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Congress and Left parties have strongly criticised the move.

The TRS MLC and former Nizamabad MP K Kavitha demanded the Central government to roll back its decision to auction off the Adilabad unit of CCI. She said it will affect the people of the State as the cement sector generates more employment. The unit was shut down in 2008 as it had run into heavy losses. Recently, Centre issued an online electronic bid through the Electronic Tendering System (ETS) and the bid was invited for the Adilabad factory.

The TRS leader asked the BJP government "if they are selling the national assets, what is the share of State (Telangana)?" She wanted to know if the BJP-led Central government was going to reinvest the funds in Telangana or set up new factories to generate employment in the state.

Kavitha stated that there is no clarity in terms of rebuilding any further infrastructure. "What is the road map? There is no clarity in that. The clarity that you have in selling the national assets you are not showing in terms of rebuilding any further infrastructure because land is something you cannot produce. Our Adilabad factory has 1500 acres of land and if you are completely selling the land and machinery as scrap, where will you get back that kind of assets to the government," she asked.

Adilabad Congress warned of hunger strike and blocking of the traffic on highways by the employees and affected families if the Centre moved ahead with its proposed auction. Meanwhile, a Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising TRS, Congress, CPI, CPM and student organisations have launched a protest demanding the Centre to revive the unit rather than dismantle it.

Earlier, IT Minister KT Rama Rao on May 16 requested the Union Minister Piyush Goyal to renovate the Cement Corporation of India (CCI) unit in Adilabad. The Minister took to his Twitter handle and requested Piyush Goyal to pay a visit to the unit and and take stock of the situation. KTR stated that if a positive response comes from the Union Minister, the State government is ready to co-operate with the Centre on the same. He suggested that many employment opportunities will come to fore if the CCI unit is renovated in the district. KTR hoped for positive response from the latter on CCI issue.

On the other hand, TRS MLA Jogu Ramanna has shared a tweet on the same unit tweeting that CCI should be renovated at the earliest which will give employment to many many youth. The MLA stated that the State government is trying to protect the such units in the Telangana whereas the Central government has issues G.Os to hanover to the private sectors.

KTR has also shared the report of CCI tweeted by MLA Jogu Ramanna.