CM Yediyurappa asks Centre to drop Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Ltd disinvestment plan
New Delhi, Jan 30: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday called on Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and requested him to drop the disinvestment proposal of Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Ltd (VISL), which has attracted no bidders till now.
Bhadravathi-based VISL, which was set up in 1918, was merged into SAIL in 1998.
In the meeting, the chief minister informed that "there is still resistance for disinvestment of VISL" and requested the Union Minister to take necessary action to drop the disinvestment proposal of the steel plant.
He highlighted that VISL is a very good brand in the alloy steel industry. People of Bhadravathi and Shivamoga are attached to the plant, he said while urging the union minister to revive the unit by infusing required capital.
The chief minister further informed that VISL is presently a "loss-making" unit because no capital investment either by the central government or SAIL.
SAIL has infused only Rs 157 crore in VISL so far for repair and renewal of the plant, he said.
SAIL, which has initiated disinvestment of VISL as per the recommendation of the government think-tank Niti Aayog, has not received any bids from private firms till now, he added in a representation made to the Steel Minister.
The steel PSU had called expression of interest from private firms in July 2019.
VISL is the only steel producer of more than 730 special grade steel in the country and has potential to contribute to achieving the aim of National Steel Policy 2017.
The company has captive mines of nearly 497 acres, abundant water resources from Bhadra river, power generating plant, adequate land and labour.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
