Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K.S. Alagiri on Saturday said he will lead a fast in Salem on July 29 against the Central government’s proposal to sell the Salem Steel Plant to private players.
Alleging that the Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) was responsible for the losses and the financial crisis facing the plant, Mr. Alagiri said it was the only public sector unit that was producing high-quality steel.
Major market
“It has a market on a par with private players such as Jindal. Its steel is used in the manufacture of coaches by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), and even (the lunar exploration mission of ISRO) Chandrayaan-2 used the non-rusting steel manufactured by it,” the TNCC leader said.
Mr. Alagiri said that though the management had claimed that the plant had been making losses, it was not ready to furnish the amount paid as interest on loans and other details.
Land acquired
“A total of 4,000 acres were acquired from farmers for the plant, and 2,500 acres remain unused. The rate of the land is very high in the market, and if it is sold to the private [sector], it will trigger public anger,” the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief said.