Salem steel plant sale scrapped: Jairam Ramesh says victory of those who opposed 'ill-thought move'

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday hit out at the government after it decided to scrap the privatisation of Steel Authority of India Limited's (SAIL) Salem Steel Plant, saying it is a victory for the workers who protested against the sale and for parties such as itself that had stoutly opposed the 'ill-thought move'.

The government on Wednesday said it has decided to scrap the privatisation of SAIL's Salem Steel Plant (SSP) in Tamil Nadu. This was the third unit of public sector major SAIL where the government has decided not to go ahead with the strategic sale.

Earlier in 2019, it decided to halt the privatisation of Durgapur-based Alloys Steels Plant (ASP) while in 2022, the sale of Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant (VISP) in Bhadravati, Karnataka was called off citing a lack of interest from bidders.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "Five years back the Modi government decided to sell off three units of SAIL: the Alloys Steel Plant at Durgapur, the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant at Bhadravati and the Salem Steel Plant. Now it appears that the privatisation has been called off."

"It is a victory no doubt for the workers who agitated against the sale and for parties like the Indian National Congress that had stoutly opposed the ill-thought move," Ramesh said.

But the uncertainty these past few years has affected the companies for which the Modi government is solely responsible, he said.