The West Bengal authorities has requested Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to intervene and cease Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) from dismantling the Raw Materials Division (RMD) headquartered in Kolkata.
In a letter to the Union Minister, State Finance Minister Amit Mitra additionally linked the BJP’s choice to defeat within the lately concluded meeting elections in West Bengal.
“I am shocked to learn from the media that the Raw Material Division (RMD) of SAIL, headquartered in Kolkata, is being wound up. This will result in the loss of many contractual workers amid this COVID pandemic, which will literally put them at a disadvantage. And over a hundred permanent employees working at RMD, Kolkata will face total instability of their families, their spouses and their children, with imminent transfers, amid the pandemic,” Mitra wrote to Pradhan.
Media studies mentioned that SAIL’s board has lately determined to shut the headquarters of its Raw Materials Division in Kolkata and switch management of its mines to Rourkela Steel Plant in Odisha and Bokaro Steel Plant in Jharkhand.
“It is even more worrisome that with the dissolution of RMD, there will be no captive mines near the prestigious Durgapur and Burnpur Integrated Steel Plants in West Bengal, nor will they get iron ore supplies as the RMD vertical has been dismantled. Would. Obviously, the 15 iron ore mines, flux mines and collieries operated by the Raw Materials Division of SAIL will now be fully allotted to Rourkela and Bokaro Steel Plants,” he wrote, including that such allocations would exclude Durgapur and Burnpur Integrated Steel Plants “To present uncooked supplies to them, to purchase uncooked supplies from the open market or to stay on the mercy of Rourkela and Bokaro.
“You are effectively conscious that the uncooked materials is priced at Rs 9,500 per tonne within the open market, whereas RMD was supplying Durgapur and Burnpur at Rs 650 per tonne. So dumping Durgapur and Burnpur within the open market will make these vegetation uncompetitive. And, over time, these vegetation will turn out to be cost-inefficient, unprofitable and impractical,” Mitra said and added that the decision appeared as “a devious intention to undermine the 2 iconic metal vegetation in Bengal”, leading to 14,400 People were working. Dangerous condition”.
“I have a deep apprehension that these two big plants (Durgapur and Burnpur) in Bengal will either be taken away from their assets or sold in the name of disinvestment, thereby crippling them through the current policy change. I can tell that these plants today are profitable entities that have made a profit of Rs 1,486 crore,” Mitra instructed Pradhan.
The Durgapur Steel Plant was established within the late Nineteen Fifties, whereas the Burnpur Plant, one of many oldest metal vegetation within the nation, was established in 1918.
“Incidentally, this move to eliminate Kolkata-headquartered RMDs and the resultant negative impact on Durgapur and Burnpur follows the BJP’s recent electoral defeat in Bengal,” he mentioned.
Mitra concluded, “I sincerely urge you to instruct your officers on the board to stop scrapping RMDs and save two great reputed and profitable institutions of Maharatna PSUs.”
The ruling Trinamool Congress had lately alleged that the choice to dissolve SAIL’s RMD headquarters in Kolkata was half of a bigger conspiracy by the Center in opposition to the state after the get together’s defeat within the meeting polls.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
