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Import policy hits BILT employees
BILT, the only major industry in Warangal district is on the verge of fading into obscurity. Located close on the shores of River Godavari near Kamalapuram, the industry has provided sustenance to nearly 10,000 people directly and indirectly for the last 35 years before the adverse global and Indian market conditions of Rayon grade pulp upset the applecart of the BILT.
Warangal: BILT, the only major industry in Warangal district is on the verge of fading into obscurity. Located close on the shores of River Godavari near Kamalapuram, the industry has provided sustenance to nearly 10,000 people directly and indirectly for the last 35 years before the adverse global and Indian market conditions of Rayon grade pulp upset the applecart of the BILT.
The unit had its heydays since it manufactured the first bit of Rayon grade pulp in October 1980 under the AP Rayons Limited, a joint venture of the APIDC and Thaper’s Group, until recently. In 1994, the Thapers acquired it and rechristened it as Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT).
It was all going so well as long as the Grasim Industries, the prime customer of the pulp produced in the unit, continued its business with the BILT. But the trouble started when the Grasim Industries reportedly disconnected its trade with the BILT after it found that the same grade pulp at much lesser price due to a slash in import duty. The difference of price is said to be Rs 5,000 per tonne.
This invariably led the BILT management to close the Kamalapuram unit in April 2014. Later, the company had approached the State government for the unit’s lay-off but failed to get its approval. Since then it’s been a long wait for about 1,300 employees on role and 600 contract workers, who took to the streets demanding revival of the unit. As of now, only the employees on role were provided with salaries and that too irregularly.
Inside sources say that the company is hellbent on closing the unit and is gearing up to seal a deal with the employees by providing a package as per the norms of the industries. “It appears that writing is on the wall if one goes by the ‘stoic silence’ maintained by the government and the evasive methods of the local public representatives,” V Ramchander, general secretary of the workers union affiliated to CITU.
Referring to their meeting with the Home Minister N. Narsimha Reddy over the issue, he said that all their efforts were proved futile. The BILT employee leaders, who managed to meet Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao during the latter’s tour to Warangal in January, failed to evoke a response from him, it’s learnt. The options before the government are to acquire the unit itself, upgrade and run it or convince the management to explore other alternatives for the revival of the unit, CPI (M) district secretariat member M Chukkaiah said.
However, it involves a huge investment, the experts say that the company may be put on track if the machinery is upgraded enabling it to manufacture paperboard or fibre yarn. It would also serve as an ancillary unit for the proposed Apparel Park near Warangal. According to unconfirmed reports, the ITC- Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division is likely to take over the unit spread across 700 acres of patta land but with zero-based staffing. The speculation is also rife that the BILT management may reconsider the revival of the unit if the government comes forward with an offer of providing subsidy to raw material and a breather time of six months to pay for the coal they purchase from the government.
By:Adepu Mahender
