Oppn flags concern over SCCL bidding for Visakhapatnam Steel Plant

Hyderabad: Is BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao seeking to up political ante against the BJP through a corporate route? BJP leaders feel so. The State government has taken a decision to participate in the bidding process for securing Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) through the state-run SCCL.

But, the BJP shot a barb at the BRS, questioning why it is not participating in the coal blocks auction of SCCL. This assumes importance since the pink party has organised a huge campaign during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state and protested over non-allocation of four coal blocks to the state and its attempt to auction them.

The BJP has pointed out that the state government has not participated in the earlier auction also on account of their economic non-viability in terms of coal extraction as compared to the coal blocks of Nina and New Patrapada in Odisha, which were allocated to SCCL. "Unless the Centre okays, Telangana cannot participate in the bid," according to a former bureaucrat.

It may be recalled that the SSCL itself is facing financial crunch as it has a debt liability of Rs 10,000 crore. Besides, it has yet to receive huge dues from the state government. This has forced SCCL to rope in outsourcing contractors to run the show by limiting its workforce which was scaled down from 63,000 in 2014 to 43,000 regular workers.

Opposition leaders on Monday questioned the financial strength of the SSCL to bid in the name of saving Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. VSP, too, is saddled with debts and about 38,500 workers, both staff and contract employees. This being the situation, how SCCL can sustain and save VSP, they argue.

It may be mentioned here that this is not the first time that another state's PSU has joined bidding process for takeover in Andhra Pradesh. Earlier, the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (GSPCL) had an 80 per cent stake in an offshore block in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, besides a 10 per cent stake, in each of its two joint ventures established for oil exploration. But, the GSPCL sold all its shares and rights to the ONGC.

VSP has 24,000 acre land bank which is approximately valued around Rs 1.5 lakh crore. It also owns the plant and machinery in Gajuwaka and other assets of its subsidiaries and joint ventures.

BRS is attempting to secure VSP since it wants to make this and the issue of railway zone as emotional issues during the next Assembly elections and try to gain entry into AP politics, opposition leaders claim.