Telangana plans historic bid to secure Vizag steel plant

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government has decided to foray into neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and bid for Vizag Steel Plant (VSP) through its coal mining PSU - Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), where it maintains an iron grip with a majority stake. In what could be the first step to privatise the government-run steel behemoth in AP, the bidding process for VSP entails funding working capital and raw material requirement against supply of steel. This would be the first time, a state-run company will place bids to secure a PSU in another state.
The Telangana government enjoys sweeping decision-making powers in SCCL by holding 51% share, while the Centre has a 49% stake.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has reportedly directed a team comprising state and SCCL officials to visit Vizag Steel Plant and hammer out a blueprint, before participating in the bids. The last date for submitting bids is April 15.
The BRS government's decision to bid for the steel plant follows its vocal opposition to any effort by the Centre to privatise VSP. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and state industries minister KT Rama Rao have openly expressed solidarity with agitating VSP employees and are even planning to meet union leaders and hold a meeting in Visakhapatnam.
Sources said, the pink party has been opposing privatisation and divestment of PSUs, auctioning of Singareni coal blocks and privatisation of Vizag steel plant, both inside and outside parliament. A few months ago, the chief minister planned to convene a national meeting to protest PSU privatisations.
The decision is politically significant, say sources, as it comes close on heels of TRS changing its name for a national outreach. BRS has already appointed Thota Chandrasekhar as party president of the party's AP wing and is planning a huge public meeting in Visakhapatnam soon.
Sources said the party is seriously considering contesting assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the neighbouring Telugu state and bidding for VSP would send a strong message to the Centre and help expand its footprint in Andhra Pradesh.
Recently, AP's BRS president Thota Chandrasekhar met VSP union leaders, collated information on the steel plant and sent it to KCR with suggestions on ways to stall privatisation by participating in bids.
"If the BRS government's strategy works out, the Centre may have to support VSP by providing working capital as was done by former prime ministers Atal Behari Vajpayee and PV Narasimha Rao," a senior BRS leader said.