Will Centre Reinvest the Funds in Telangana After Selling National Assets, Asks Kavitha

Hyderabad: A political controversy has erupted over the Centre’s proposal to auction the assets of the Cement Corporation of India (CCI) unit at Adilabad in Telangana. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Congress and Left parties have strongly criticised the move. 

The TRS MLC and former Nizamabad MP K Kavitha demanded the Central government to roll back its decision to auction off the Adilabad unit of CCI. She said it will affect the people of the state as the cement sector generates more employment. The unit was shut down in 2008 as it had run into heavy losses. Recently, Centre issued an online electronic bid through the Electronic Tendering System (ETS) and the bid was invited for the Adilabad factory. 

The TRS leader asked the BJP government “if they are selling the national assets, what is the share of state (Telangana)?” She wanted to know if the BJP-led Central government was going to reinvest the funds in Telangana or set up new factories to generate employment in the state. 

Kavitha said there is no clarity in terms of rebuilding any further infrastructure. “What is the road map? There is no clarity in that. The clarity that you have in selling the national assets you are not showing in terms of rebuilding any further infrastructure because land is something you cannot produce. Our Adilabad factory has 1500 acres of land and if you are completely selling the land and machinery as scrap, where will you get back that kind of assets to the government,” she asked. 

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Adilabad Congress warned of hunger strike and blocking of the traffic on highways by the employees and affected families if the Centre moved ahead with its proposed auction. Meanwhile, a Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising TRS, Congress, CPI, CPM and student organisations have launched a protest demanding the Centre to revive the unit rather than dismantle it.