Deve Gowda urges PM to instruct Steel Ministry to drop VISL closure proposal
Bengaluru (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to instruct the Ministry of Steel and the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) authorities to drop the proposal for closure of Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Limited (VISL) at Bhadravati.
The JD(S) supremo also has urged the Prime Minister to do the needful for the revival of VISL.
"Sir, you're well aware that only one public sector steel industry situated in Karnataka i.e., VISL, Bhadravati, if that plant was closed it will adversely affect 20,000 families livelihood," Gowda said in his letter, which he tweeted on Sunday.
"Sir, with my knowledge on the potential of the workforce and the prevailing working culture at VISL, I sincerely hope that with a few crores of investment, this company can be transformed as a profitable venture and can further contribute to the development of "Atma Nirbhar Bharath" by catering to the varied departments like Defence, Nuclear, Automobile, Railway sectors etc.," he said.
In the letter dated January 15, the former Prime Minister says that he has come to know that under the Central Government's disinvestment policy feature, in non-strategic sectors, Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) will be privatised, otherwise shall be closed, and accordingly the SAIL management has started the closure activities of VISL.
Pointing out that VISL was established by a great visionary and engineer statesman Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya, Gowda while listing out its history, highlighted that during his tenure as the Prime Minister of India, he took initiation action to merge VISL with to Steel Authority of India in 1996, after which it became a unit of SAIL.
The main intention of the merger with SAIL was to upgrade technology through managerial support for the modernisation of VISL through an investment of Rs 650 crore. "But unfortunately, it did not materialise."
Right from the 2000 onwards, VISL has been presently facing many challenges like disinvestment, divestment, privatisation, joint venture etc, but has not yielded results instead it has affected the morale of the working class and the citizens of this region, Gowda pointed out.
Further suggesting that this plant has a massive capability to produce more than 700 grades of alloy and special steels catering to the requirements of ordnance factories, nuclear complex, wheel and axle units, automobiles etc, he said, "Hence, there is a dire need for revival of the unit by inducing investment, further attach it to parent units i.e., Steel Authority of India Limited."
Also, an extent of 150 acre captive iron ore mines have been allocated to VISL in Ramanadurga area of Ballari District from the Government of Karnataka and the process for start of mining is at an advanced stage, and it is expected that the mine will be operational by 2024, he added.
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Kasaragod: ED books Kunhahmed Musliyar Memorial Trust for FCRA violation
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has registered a forex violation case against a Kerala-based charitable organisation for receiving Rs 220 crore from abroad in alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
The investigation pertains to Kunhahmed Musliyar Memorial Trust located in Kasargod and its chairman Ibrahim Ahmad Ali, an NRI.
Searches were conducted under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) at two locations in Kasargod on Thursday in connection with the case, the ED said in a statement.
The Trust, according to the ED, received more than Rs 220 crore since 2021 from Ibrahim Ahmad Ali, which was reflected in the books of accounts as "unsecured" loans.
However, no loan agreement, interest rate terms, or repayment schedule were available, and no repayment had been made till date, the probe agency said.
The probe found that these funds were received by Ali from a UAE company named Universal Lubricants LLC.
In the absence of supporting documents and in view of the clarification given under a section of the FCRA, the said loan prima facie qualified as "foreign contribution" under FCRA, the statement said.
According to the ED, the Trust is "not registered" under the FCRA and does not possess the "mandatory permission" or a designated FCRA bank account to receive foreign contributions.
It was found that a part of these foreign contributions was "utilised" for the purchase of agricultural land in India, in violation of the existing regulations.
The search action found that the Trust received Rs 2.49 crore in "cash" from Ali in violation of FEMA provisions.
"During the search, incriminating documents, ledger accounts showing unsecured loans of Rs 220 crore, the cash book of the Trust, and a hard disk containing financial data were seized," the ED said.
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