Move to shift SAIL's division out of state a 'devious intent' post BJP's poll debacle: Mitra
Kolkata: Alleging that the move to dismantle the Kolkata-based Raw Materials Division (RMD) of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is a 'devious intent' post BJP's poll debacle and is also of undermining the iconic steel plants of Durgapur and Burnpur, Bengal Finance minister Amit Mitra stated in a letter to Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan that the decision—which would lead to job losses for scores of 'contractual employees'—'follows in the heels of BJP's recent electoral loss in Bengal.' Moreover, Mitra claimed that the two plants in Bengal—which are profitable entities at present—would be 'crippled' due to the current policy shift.
Mitra also mentioned in the letter that he received information about Pradhan's direct involvement in "this unfortunate strategic decision" of dismantling RMD. "I am even more disturbed to hear when the Workers' Union of SAIL met with the top Management in Delhi in Ispat Bhavan, they were informally told that the newly appointed chairperson, the first woman chairperson of SAIL, would not be able to do anything about the dismantling of RMD and non-allocation of mines to Durgapur and Burnpur, because the Hon'ble Steel Minister himself, is behind this unfortunate strategic decision," Mitra wrote
to Pradhan
"I am shocked to learn from the media that the Raw Materials Division (RMD) of SAIL, headquartered in Kolkata, is being dismantled. This will result in the job loss of scores of contractual employees in the midst of this Covid pandemic, literally putting them in harm's way. And over hundred permanent employees working in RMD, Kolkata will face total destabilisation of their families, their spouses and their children, with imminent transfer, in the midst of the Covid pandemic," Mitra stated in
his letter. Stating that the steelmaker's Durgapur and Burnpur units would not get supplies of iron-ore as without any captive mines, Mitra maintained: "The two massive steel plants, employing 14,400 workers, would soon be in a dire state. I may point out that these plants today are profitable entities having yielded a profit of Rs 1,486 crore. I am deeply apprehensive that these two massive plants in Bengal would either be asset stripped or be sold off in the name of disinvestment, having crippled them through the current policy shift".
Protesting against the Centre's decision, Mitra has stated that "apparently, the 15 iron ore mines, flux mines and collieries run by RMD of SAIL would now be entirely allocated to Rourkela and Bokaro Steel Plants, where Odisha mines will be allocated to Rourkela and Jharkhand mines will be allocated to Bokaro".
As a result, Durgapur and Burnpur plants will have to remain at the "mercy of Rourkela and Bokaro" for raw materials or else they have to go for procurement from the
open market. This comes when the prices of raw materials like that of "fines" cost Rs 9,500 a tonne. But, RMD was supplying the same to these plants at Rs 650 a tonne. "Therefore, by throwing Durgapur and Burnpur into the open market, these plants would be rendered uncompetitive. And, over time, these plants would become cost inefficient, unprofitable and unviable," the letter reads.
