NEW DELHI: Visakhapatnam YSR Congress Party MP MVV Satyanarayana raised the issue of the privatization of the Visakhapatnam steel plant in the Lok Sabha on Monday during the Budget Session 2022.

Addressing the issue the YSRCP MP demanded that the Central government take back the decision to privatize Visakhapatnam Steel. He said that the Visakhapatnam steel plant is the self-respect of the Telugu people. He recalled that the long-cherished dream of the Andhras was fulfilled in 1982 with the emergence of the Visakha Steel Industry. It was due to the supreme sacrifice of 32 people and after many years of struggle that we got the Vizag steel plant under the slogan of ‘Visakha Ukku-Andhrula Hakku ’ slogan the MP stated.

The people from 64 villages in the surrounding areas had given 22,000 acres of land for the construction of the Visakhapatnam steel plant. He said that Visakhapatnam Steel, which is a Navratna in the public sector, is also like an ornament for the State.

More than 35,000 employees, workers, and over one lakh families depend on the plant for their livelihood. It was sad to brand the steel plant for not having its own captive mines and that it was purchasing ore at a high cost, he said. The MP appealed to the center to withdraw the decision of privatization keeping in mind the welfare of the steel plant employees.

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