The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has welcomed the Centre’s decision to lay a new railway line from Bhadrachalam to Malkangiri, “though the Centre’s objective of constructing the new line is different from what Telangana thinks”.
Speaking to the media here on Saturday, former MP B. Vinod Kumar stated that the Centre was laying the new line to transport the iron ore mined in Bailadila and other mines in Chhattisgarh to different parts of the country, while Telangana is of the view that it would help setting up a steel plant in Bayyaram.
He said that there is no railway station in Bhadrachalam but there is a station in Pandurangapuram on the Kothagudem-Manuguru line. The new line is the one between Pandurangapuram and Malkangiri. The Bailadila mines are closer to Bayyaram compared to Visakhapatnam.
The former MP also said that the lack of a railway link was one of the main reasons that went against establishing the Bayyaram steel plant. As per the new steel policy of the Centre, the per capita consumption of steel was supposed to be increased by 2030 and that would be possible only if a steel plant was established in Bayyaram.
Stating that BJP was in power at the Centre for the last 10 years but had not spent anything on setting up major industries in Telangana, he said that now was the time for establishment of a steel plant in Bayyaram. Now that BJP has eight MPs from Telangana, it is their responsibility to press for implementation of the bifurcation promises, particularly establishment of the steel plant.
The new railway line should not just serve the purpose of Gujarat by moving the iron ore from Chhattisgarh. The Steel Authority of India Ltd had said in its report in the past that a 3 million tonnes per annum steel production capacity plant was possible in Bayyaram as the area has huge iron ore reserves.
Published - August 10, 2024 09:27 pm IST
