Former Minister and chief adviser of the Kalinganagar Labor Union Dr Prafulla Chandra Ghadai said while other private industries in Kalinga Nagar are planning to expand their steel mills, there is little justification to shut down a Government-run joint venture between the Central and State Governments like the Nilachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL).
The Central Government should convene a high-level meeting soon and take a positive decision on the functioning of the Nilachal Steel Corporation.
In addition, it can entrust any Central Government enterprise, such as SAIL, RINL or NMDC, with the responsibility of managing it, Ghadai opined. Notably, the NINL, the only Government-owned enterprise in the Kalinganagar industrial area of Jajpur district, has been closed since March last year. Hundreds of people who got direct and indirect employment in the unit have been living in miserable conditions ever since.
Though a high-level meeting for revival of the plant had been convened on August 13 last which was attended by the Union Minister of Steel and Petroleum and Natural Gas, the Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Railways, the Minister of Civil Aviation and Housing and Urban Development, it had little helped to end the stalemate. During the meeting, the Central Department of Investments and Public Relations announced that MMTC would sell its products worth Rs 230 crore to Nilachal Steel Corporation and pay the arrears and salaries of its employees and workers in the next three to four months.
But so far nothing was done on ground to run the plant and clear the dues of the employees.
At present, the Nilachal Steel Corporation has the capacity to produce 1.1 million tonnes of steel, with the necessary infrastructure, land and its own mines to turn it into a 10 million tonne plant.
The decision to withdraw capital from the Nilachal Steel Corporation has led to an increase in its financial losses, which will reduce its value if it is sold now. On the other hand, the silence of the Central Trade and Steel Department of the Central Government has come as a surprise to all.
