The Hindu Business Line : VSP capacity to be raised soon: CM

The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, greets people during the Rajiv Nagarabata programme at Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam on Monday. - K.R. Deepak

Visakhapatnam , Jan. 24

THE capacity of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd) will be doubled in due course of time and the State Government will persuade the Centre to clear the proposal, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S Rajasekhara Reddy, has said.

He was addressing industrial workers at Gajuwaka in the vicinity of the plant on Monday while touring the Gajuwaka and Anakapalle municipalities as part of the Rajiv Nagarabata programme.

Dr Reddy said the Visakhapatnam plant had made rapid strides in recent times and it was now to take up capacity expansion. He said the UPA Government was also agreeable to the proposal.

The Chief Minister also met the Chairman and Managing Director of the plant, Mr Y. Sivasagara Rao, and other officials during the tour and discussed the issue.

On revival of the other two major public sector units here, Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels Ltd and Hindusthan Shipyard Ltd, he said the Congress Government had promised that it would initiate steps to revive their fortunes.

"We are committed to it and we will do everything possible," he said. Work on the Gangavaram port and the special economic zone would be speeded up, he added.

Answering a query by reporters, he dismissed the charge levelled by the Opposition Telugu Desam Party that the Rajiv Nagarabata had been launched with an eye on the coming municipal elections.

"We have no such ulterior motives. It is meant for the planned all-round development of the urban areas in the State," he said.

The government's decision to allot five per cent reservation to the minorities in education and employment was expected to get legal clearance soon.

The Chief Minister inaugurated the Rajiv Gruha Kalpa scheme to provide houses and water to the urban poor and small income groups. The Government would take all steps for the rehabilitation of displaced persons, he said.

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