Comments
Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao has alleged that the NDA government is trying to sell assets of several central public sector units (PSUs) worth ₹40,000 crore in the State.
In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, he flayed the attempts to sell PSUs in the guise of disinvestment.
“I appeal to the Union Government to reconsider these plans, failing which the Telangana Government will strongly obstruct the moves,” he said.
He sought to know under what provisions or rights the Modi government was contemplating the sale of PSUs set up in different States.
"The Centre is selling Hindustan Cables Limited, Hindustan Fluorocarbons Limited, Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited, HMT, Cement Corporation of India Limited (CCI) and Ordinance factories in Telangana as part of its disinvestment plans," he said.
The State government had allotted about 7,200 acres of land to these six companies.
“As per government rates, the value of these lands would be nearly ₹5,000 crore and as per open market prices, the value could be over ₹40,000 crore,” he said.
The State government had allotted lands to these companies at marginal prices, and in a few cases, they were offered for free, since the setting up of these units would generate employment for local people, besides facilitating industrial development.
.Instead of selling the assets, the Union government should explore the possibilities of reviving and strengthening the PSUs, he felt. “If it is not feasible, then the State Government should be given an opportunity to set up new industrial units on such lands,” the Minister said. The Industries Minister pointed out that many States, including Tamil Nadu, were strongly opposing the Central Government’s moves to sell PSUs in their respective territories.
“It is unfortunate that the Modi government did not provide job opportunities to the unemployed youth. If the PSUs were reopened, they would provide direct employment to thousands and, indirectly, millions would benefit”,” he said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.