No salaries for Neelachal Ispat Nigam's staff after disinvestment nod in Jan
New Delhi: With disinvestment process yet to kick-start for Neelachal Ispat Nigam's (NINL's) one-million tonne steel plant in Odisha's Kalinganagar industrial complex, the employees are having a tough time as they have not been paid their salaries since February 2020. The Centre had approved 100 per cent disinvestment proposal of the NINL in January this year.
Those who are facing financial problems after the Centre's decision to disinvest NINL include about 1,500 permanent employees and over 3,500 supply workers.
According to Ajit Kumar Pradhan, who is general secretary of Neelachal Executive Association (NEA), the situation started worsening after managing partner MMTC refused to take the responsibility of NINL employees' salaries soon after the decision taken by the Centre in this regard.
"The association has filed a writ petition in Orissa High Court for the release of unpaid legitimate dues and salary of all NINL employees," Pradhan said, adding that apart NINL staff, there are around 10,000 people who been affected by the disinvestment plan as they all are directly or indirectly dependent on NINL for their livelihood.
Holding MMTC responsible for the financial crisis, Pradhan said, "Given that NINL has no source for revenue generation on its own, the MMTC's apathy towards the plant has turned the situation very grim as the key promoter holds 49.78 per cent share in NINL and it owns the sole right to market finished products of the plant."
As MMTC stopped supplying imported coking coal to the plant, the Coke oven, which was the only running unit, was forced to stop production on March 26, 2020 --- a day after the country went for a national lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
"When MMTC declined to infuse fund for plant operation, minor promoters like Odisha Mining Corporation (20.47 per cent), Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha (12 per cent), NMDC (10.10 per cent) MECON (0.68 per cent) and BHEL (0.68 per cent) became mute spectators," Pradhan said, adding that all the major units of NINL have been shut since July 2019.
Presently strategic divestment of NINL through global biding is under progress through Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) under the Ministry of Finance. However, till now an expression of interest (EOI) has not been yet floated.
