Mitra fears SAIL’s Bengal units are being sold off, writes to Pradhan

“I’m deeply apprehensive that these two huge vegetation in Bengal would both be asset stripped or be offered off within the title of disinvestment, having crippled them via the present coverage shift,” Mitra wrote in a letter to Union metal minister Dharmemdra Pradhan. (File photograph: IE)

West Bengal finance, planning and programme monitoring minister Amit Mitra has alleged that Steel Authority of India Ltd’s (SAIL) Durgapur plant and the Burnpur IISCO metal unit are being stripped of property like iron ore mines, as a part of a plan by the Union metal ministry to finally promote them off.

“I’m deeply apprehensive that these two huge vegetation in Bengal would both be asset stripped or be offered off within the title of disinvestment, having crippled them via the present coverage shift,” Mitra wrote in a letter to Union metal minister Dharmemdra Pradhan.

A SAIL spokesperson, nonetheless, mentioned he didn’t have any information of the ministry’s alleged transfer. SAIL’s uncooked materials division, headquartered in Kolkata, runs 15 mines together with iron ore mines, flux mines and coal mines. The eight iron ore mines below the division are unfold throughout Orissa and Jharkhand. The 2 flux mines are in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh every and the remaining (coking) coal mines are within the ECL unfold throughout Jharkhand and West Bengal.

These mines are believed to be completely allotted to Rourkela and Bokaro Metal vegetation, as per the plan. The “Odisha mines will likely be allotted to the Rourkela and Jharkhand mines will likely be allotted to Bokaro”, Mitra mentioned in his letter, including that this would go away the 2 built-in metal vegetation of Durgapur and Burnpur on the mercy of Rourkela and Bokaro Metal vegetation for sourcing uncooked supplies. Or the Bengal vegetation could have to acquire uncooked supplies from the open market.

Costs of iron ore fines have skyrocketed to a degree of Rs 9,500 per tonne within the open market, whereas SAIL’s uncooked materials division equipped it to Durgapur and Burnpur at Rs 650 a tonne. “By throwing Durapur and Burnpur into the open market, these vegetation could be rendered uncompetitive. And over time, these vegetation would change into inefficient, unprofitable and unviable,” Mitra wrote including these two vegetation have posted a mixed revenue of Rs 1,486 crore in FY21.

The metal vegetation at Durgapur and Burnpur have a capability to supply 2.12 milion tonne each year and 4.26 lakh tonne each year of saleable metal. With a staff’ power of 14,400, these vegetation would quickly be in a “dire state” and the staff within the uncooked materials division would even be destabilised within the midst of the pandemic, Mitra wrote.