Protests over Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd-Visakhapatnam Steel Plant unit in Rae Bareli

VISAKHAPATNAM: Protesting against the decision of the state-run steel maker Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd-Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (RINL-VSP) to set up a railway wheel manufacturing unit in Rai Bareli, the CPI (M) Visakhapatnam district committee said it was unfair as the unit was being set up with Rs 1,000 crore borrowed by VSP-RINL while the jobs would be provided to those from Rai Bareli and surrounding areas.Members of the CPI (M) objected to the logic of setting up the unit in Rai Bareli, when the VSP-RINL could have done the same in their own sprawling campus in Visakhapatnam.
Speaking on the issue here on Tuesday, C H Narsinga Rao, district secretary, CPI (M), alleged that the MoU was signed by the VSP management under political pressure and said that it was not mere coincidence that the unit was being set up in Sonia Gandhi's constituency.
Narsinga Rao further alleged that the state government was making false promises to the people of Vizag and AP that they would help in the expansion plans of the steel plant, while RINL-VSP was setting up plants elsewhere.