The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Fight for Bhadravati’s VISL hots up

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Fight for Bhadravati’s VISL hots up

M. Raghuram

The samiti feels VISL is heading for closure

BANGALORE: In a fine display of concern for their town, the people of Bhadravati, under the aegis of the Bhadravati Abhivruddi Samiti, have launched a struggle to save the first steel industry of pre-independence era, Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Limited (VISL). Started by Mokshagundam Vishveshwaraya in 1922 at Bhadravati, the VISL, according to them, is fast heading for closure.

In 1989, the VISL was handed over to the Union Government to function as a subsidiary of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL). SAIL had invested Rs. 120 crore to establish a blast furnace with an installed capacity of producing 540 cubic metres of hot metal. In 1996, the VISL was fully merged with SAIL when H.D. Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister.

The trouble for VISL began in 2004 when the dedicated mines at Kemmanagundi from where the company was sourcing its raw materials were de-commissioned.

From that year the company began buying iron ore in the open market.

The difference in the price of iron ore between the open market and the dedicated mines was Rs. 1,500 a tonne in 2006, a big increase from Rs. 500 a tonne in 2004.

According to the samiti, this had pushed up the production costs resulting in the company sustaining a loss of Rs. 55 crore in 2004.

It said by 2010 the town will have less than 800 employees and their families living in Bhadravati against over 9,000 in 1982. The samithi feels that the only way to save Bhadravati from becoming a “ghost town” is to pump in more investment in VISL.

Delegation

President of the samiti B.H. Narasimaiah said that the government, led by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, had identified a mining block of 140 hectares in Sandur in Bellary district to be allotted to VISL, but some private parties had blocked the allotment through a stay order. The samiti has decided to take a delegation headed by all the Members of Parliament to the Centre to press for upgradation of technology at VISL and the release of the mining block in Sandur in favour of the VISL.

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