After the Central Government announced its plan to privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, a lot of chaos has ensued, with every single person and political party belonging to Andhra Pradesh opposing the decision on part of the Center.
Former CBI Joint Director VV Lakshminarayana has now joined the list of people who are opposing the privatisation of the steel plant. Lakshminaraya wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, stating the importance of the Visakha Steel Plant, and reminding the PM that India is no.2 in steel production, in the world, and that the VSP plays a very big role in that.
Lakshminarayana reminded the PM that the VSP contributed 3200 tonnes of steel for the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel statue and 2200 tonnes of steel for the Atal tunnel and that the quality of steel production at VSP is at its best. He said that privatising the steel plant now would greatly affect the costs of construction in the country, by increasing them rapidly, as the price for steel would then go to private companies. Lakshminarayana also reminded the PM that privatising the steel plant now would take the steel industry to the state that the public sector cement factories are now in.
Reminding the PM of the role that Bhakra Nangal Dam, Hirakud Dam and Nagarjuna Sagar Dam had played in the development of agriculture after Independence, Lakshminarayana added that Bhilai Iron and Steel Plant had boosted the progress of Industrial growth in the country. He said that if the Center increased its funds for the steel plant, and if the PM looked at the steel plant in a unique way, it would be a greater asset to the country.
Furthermore, Lakshminarayana reiterated to the PM the value and sentiment that the people of Andhra Pradesh have attached to the steel plant, and how the plant was achieved after many lives were sacrificed for the cause.