RailEnquiry

VISAKHAPATNAM: Local representatives of all the major political parties, excluding the Congress, petitioned district collector V Seshadri to relocate the Rs 1000 crore rail wheel factory proposed to be built at Raebareli by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd to Visakhapatnam.The representatives said this made sense as RINL-VSP was the only shore-based steel plant facilitating easy transport of raw materials and finished products. The representatives were also surprised at the fact that the steelmaker had entered into another MoU with the government of West Bengal to set up a rail axle manufacturing unit at a cost of Rs 280 crores in the state of West Bengal. Noting that both the plants could have been built on the existing campus in Visakhapatnam without much fuss, the representatives, in their petition, demanded that the two MoUs be cancelled as these developments would affect employment generation in the region.They added that parochial political interests were responsible for taking decisions at the expense of the state's interests.The petition was signed by Ch Narasinga Rao of the CPI (M), P S Naidu, District Secretary, TDP, P Diwakar B C Leader, YSRCP, K Suresh of Loksatta, Satyanajeneya of CPI.