State government should buy shares if Centre sells Salem Steel plant

Coimbatore : Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi (KMDK) Friday urged Tamil Nadu government to take steps to buy the shares of Salem Steel Plant, if the Centre proposed to sell it to private parties, as was done by former chief minister, Jayalalitha with regard to NLC.

There were reports that the Centre was planning to privatise and sell to private parties the plant, which is a pride of the Tamils and should not be allowed to go to private hands, KMDK General secretary, E R Eswaran said here.

Stating that Jayalalithaa had offered to buy five per cent shares of NLC, which were to be sold to private parties during the UPA rule, Eswaran in a statement said that the State government should come forward to buy the shares proposed to be sold.

By this, the government can utilise the unused 800 acre land on the premises to increase the profit of the plant, he said.

The plant can get more profit if the raw material steel scrap was procured for Rs.22 per kg from private companies, instead of rs.29 per kg from the State owned company in Bihar, as fixed by the centre, he pointed out.

The developments were clear indication that the Centre was firm to sell the plant to corporates, Eswaran alleged.