Council passes resolution thanking Centre for saving VSP

Vijayawada: A dramatic turn of events unfolded in the Legislative Council on Tuesday when education and IT minister Nara Lokesh moved a government resolution thanking the Centre for safeguarding the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP). The resolution conveyed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union steel minister H D Kumaraswamy for their role in protecting the plant.

Minister Lokesh urged all members to support the resolution unanimously. While YSRCP members attempted to allege that privatisation steps were still underway, Lokesh dismissed their claims outright. “We have said a hundred times—privatisation will not happen. It was YSRCP that admitted privatisation was stalled, yet they continue misleading the House,” he countered.

He further pointed out that the plant’s production capacity, which had fallen to 48 percent under YSRCP, has now been revived to nearly 80 per cent. “YSRCP did nothing for five years, leaving behind Rs 25,000 crore in debts. We, on the other hand, are strengthening the plant,” he said. Emphasising the government’s stance, Lokesh declared: “There is no proposal for withdrawal of investments. The plant has already been revived. We will continue to support the NDA unconditionally in the national interest, not confront the Centre.”

When Lokesh asked YSRCP members if they would support or oppose the resolution, Opposition leader Botcha Satyanarayana announced that YSRCP would extend full support. He stated that his party would cooperate with any effort to prevent privatisation. However, when Satyanarayana moved a parallel resolution, treasury benches termed it “irrelevant,” pointing out that the government had already acted on the issue.

The debate heated up further when Satyanarayana alleged that valuable industrial lands were being handed over at throwaway prices. Minister Lokesh struck back, challenging: “If you prove that even one acre of land in Vizag was given to Ursa company at Rs1 per acre, I will resign as minister.” He clarified that only TCS and Cognizant were allotted land at concessional rates, each creating 25,000 jobs and generating Rs 15,000 crore in economic activity.

Lokesh accused YSRCP of threatening to cancel land allocations if they came to power, creating uncertainty among investors. “Even TCS is questioning whether YSRCP will cancel land allotments. Satyanarayana must clarify-should industries be given land or not?” he demanded. The Council passed the government resolution with support from both ruling and opposition benches.