TRS, Congress pitch for steel plant near Bayyaram

TRS, Congress pitch for steel plant near Bayyaram
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JP welcomes govt's decision to allocate iron ore mines to VSP Hyderabad: The TRS and Congress MLAs have demanded that the government set up a new...

JP welcomes govt's decision to allocate iron ore mines to VSP

trs2Hyderabad: The TRS and Congress MLAs have demanded that the government set up a new steel plant somewhere on the border of Warangal and Khammam and ensure that Bayyaram mines serves as a captive mine for the plant.A TRS leader T Harish Rao and floor leader E Rajender on Thursday said that either the government should set up the steel plant, or it should withdraw the GOs as the right on the mines is that of the people of Telangana.

Reacting to it, Congress chief whip Gandra Venkataramana Reddy said that it was not proper to politicise every issue. He said the government had decided to give the mines to Visakhapatnam Steel plant, which is now part of the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), a top ranking public sector undertaking.

He urged the Chief Minister to see that the RINL sets up a steel plant somewhere on the borders of Warangal and Khammam well ahead of the 2014 general elections. He also said that this would be the most ideal location since river Godavari is nearby. The coal mines, that are near to this place and its proximity to railway lines are also an advantage. There would be no need for developing new infrastructure facilities and it will also help the local youth in getting jobs, he said.

Meanwhile, Lok Satta Party national president Jayaprakash Narayan welcomed the government's decision to allocate 5342 hectares of iron ore mines in Bayyaram and other places to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP). He recalled that when he met the VSP management in wake of an industrial accident, it sought allocation of iron ore mines for captive mining with a view to improve production and profitability and create more jobs. Although long overdue, the government's decision to allocate iron ore mines to VSP is most welcome, he said.

Jayaprakash Narayan added that the State government should acquire land in and around Ramayapatnam in Prakasam district for the port-cum-shipyard proposed by the Union government in the context of the Indian Navy taking over Hindustan Shipyard at Visakhapatnam. It has not materialised so far because the State government had earmarked rights over 400 km of coastline to private port companies. The Lok Satta Party had exposed the irregularities in agreements with private port companies in the Assembly on March 8, 2011, he said.

The port-cum-shipyard, he said, would attract investments of up to Rs 20,000 crore in the course of time and contribute to the economic development of south coastal Andhra Pradesh.

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