RINL can take up real-estate development on over 7K acres of Vizag steel plant's unused land instead of selling it:CM

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday suggested that theRashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited could take up real-estatedevelopment on over 7,000 acres of unused land belonging tothe Visakhapatnam Steel Plant instead of selling away theNavaratna unit.

The state government would issue necessary land useconversion permits for the purpose, he said.

''This will improve the cash reserves of the steelplant and it will become rich.The money can be used for thedevelopment of the plant,'' the chief minister said, addressingleaders of the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee, ajoint action committee that's fighting against the proposedprivatisation of the plant.

The chief minister, during his brief visit to theport city, assured the committee leaders that the stategovernment would pass a resolution in the Assembly, asking theCentre not to go ahead with the proposed strategic sale.

''There is no second thought about it,'' Jaganasserted.

He said he had already written to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi listing three alternatives to the proposeddisinvestment but there was no reply yet from the Centre.

''The steel plant is spread over 20,000 acres of land,out of which about 7,000 acres is lying unused.That land couldbe converted into layouts and sold as plots.The money thusaccrued could be pumped back into the plant,'' Jagan said.

This would eliminate the need for sale of the steelplant, he added.

The chief minister pointed out that the steel plantwas in debts to the tune of Rs 22,000 crore, with interestrates as high as 14 per cent.

''Short-term loans, along with long-term loans, couldbe converted into equity, taking off repayment pressures andinterest burden.'' ''Conversion of these loans into equity and listingRINL, Vizag, on the stock exchange, giving banks the exitoption, may also be explored to ease the burden of debtservicing and improve financial sustainability,'' the chiefminister said.

He also wanted the Centre to allocate iron ore minesin neighbouring Odisha as the state had rich reserves.

''RINL already has five mines in Odisha but theirlease expired.That has to be renewed, which will make 200million tonnes of iron ore available for the steel plant,'' hesaid.

''I explained all this in my letter to the PrimeMinister.If these measures are undertaken, there will be noneed to hand over the plant to private parties and RINL willturn into a good organisation.

I haven't got a reply yet but it will surecome.Let's see what happens,'' Jagan told the Committee leadersduring the one-hour interaction.

He appreciated the stance taken by the AP BJPleaders against the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam SteelPlant.

''I hope all efforts will bear fruit and I stronglybelieve in the coming days we will get a favourable decision,''Jagan observed.

He appealed to the steel plant workers not to hamperthe production because of the ongoing agitation.

''Let there not be any blame that the plant had to beshutdown because of the workers agitation.The plant shouldrun to its capacity and only then will the costs come down,''Jagan added.

''The state government is sincerely committed toprotecting the steel plant,'' the chief minister summed up.

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