H D Kumaraswamy.
Credit: DH Photo
New Delhi: Slamming the Siddaramaiah headed Congress government in Karnataka, Union Steel Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday said that due to non-cooperation from the state government, the Centre not able to take a decision to revive Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Limited, (VISL) at Bhadravati.
" I have requested the state government to convene a meeting to address the issues including allocating mining area. However, the state government not showing interest in it," he told reporters here.
Due to lack of co-operation from the state government, the Centre not able to help the state in bringing large scale investment including revival of sick industries, he said.
He said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu held several meetings with the central government officials to address the issues related to debt-laden Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), popularly known as Vizag Steel plant. "Such meetings have bore fruits now with the Union Cabinet approving a Rs 11,440 crore revival plan for for the RINL. Why can't the Karnataka Chief Minister take initiative for VISL," he said.
"Whenever I take initiative to revive the VISL, the state government is obstructing it," he said adding that the Centre is keen to revive the company.
On HMT land issue, Kumaraswamy said the land was allocated by the Mysuru princely state and now state government wanted to take back the land citing it has forest character. The state government is against the revival of the HMT company. That is why they decided to take back the company land, he said.
The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to withdraw an Interlocutory Application (IA) filed in the Supreme Court seeking the denotification of 160 acres of land allocated to Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) in Bengaluru, which had been classified as forest land.