Adilabad CCI workers anxious as Centre moves to scrap machinery
Workers of the Cement Corporation of India unit in Adilabad are worried after the Union government invited tenders to sell machinery as scrap. They fear the move signals closure, ending hopes of revival and impacting livelihoods dependent on the factory.
Adilabad: Hopes of workers of Cement Corporation of India’s (CCI) sick unit in Adilabad have almost been shattered, with the Union government recently inviting tenders to sell the machinery as scrap for Rs 50 crore. The workers are anxious over the fate of the cement manufacturer.
The workers of the CCI, which was completely shut down in 2008, pinned many hopes on the Centre that it would revive the unit. They expected that the BJP-led Union government would strive hard to restart the factory as the party’s top leader Amit Shah promised to take steps to revive the unit at the time of the polls to the Adilabad Assembly segment in 2018. The party vowed to start the CCI in the 2023 Assembly elections as well.
Members of the CCI Sadhana Committee, which was formed with the sole objective of achieving revival of the sick unit in 2022, expressed concern over the fate of the cement company. “We are worried over the uncertainty prevailing over the future of the unit following the Union government’s invitation to sell the machinery as scrap. We urge the Centre to implement its poll promise and prevent the unit from becoming history,” Mallesh, convener of the body, said.
“It remains to be seen whether the unit would remain in the annals of history or the lands of the plant would be given to farmers or sold,” another member of the committee opined. The members feared that the road to revive the sick unit was getting closed day by day. They suspected that selling the machinery would lead to closure of the manufacturing activity and help the Union government in easily disposing of its assets, particularly land.
Since the inception of the committee, the members have been staging various protests seeking revival of the unit at regular intervals. However, their protests failed to evoke a response from either the State or Union government. Neither the Adilabad MP G Nagesh nor local MLA Payal Shankar, both from the BJP, made any concrete efforts to restart the unit so far. The disappointed workers are planning to launch protests against the latest decision soon.
CCI background
The CCI unit brought recognition to Adilabad by putting the backward district on the map of industrial growth. It was established on 700 acres of land at Tirupalli, on the town outskirts. It was formally commissioned in 1984, with an installed capacity of 1,200 tonnes of cement per day. It created direct and indirect employment opportunities for around 4,000 families. It had given stiff competition to players in the country.
However, industrial reforms introduced by the then Congress-led government in 1991 had a disastrous impact on the cement factory. The Centre’s share of working capital was stalled and 60 per cent of cement produced here was not purchased by the Union government. Consequently, the unit was partially closed down due to operational losses in November 1998, spelling doom for many.
Name of the plant: CCI Adilabad unit
Location: Belluri village in Adilabad on Adilabad-Nagpur route (old NH)
The year of establishment: 1984
Land allocated for the plant: 2,340 acres
Capacity: 1,200 tonnes of cement per day
Employment: 4,000 families
Regular employees: 450
Contract-based workforce: 2,000
Year of closure: 2008
Liabilities: Rs 47 crore
Raw material available: 48 million metric tonnes
