Kavitha demands Congress to pressurise Centre to establish Bayyaram Steel Plant

"The Bayyaram Steel Plant is not just a promise; it is a constitutional commitment made during the formation of Telangana. The BJP's outright refusal to fulfill this commitment highlights their disregard for the backward and tribal communities in Khammam," she stated. On Wednesday, the Centre declared in Parliament that setting up the steel plant at Bayyaram was not feasible and that there were no plans for it.

Hyderabad: BRS MLC K Kavitha on Thursday demanded the Congress government in Telangana to pressurise the Centre to establish the steel plant at Bayyaram. She stated that if the BJP was sincere towards development of the State which gave eight MPs, it must deliver the plant as promised in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

“The Bayyaram Steel Plant is not merely a promise; it is a constitutional commitment made during the formation of Telangana. The BJP’s blatant refusal to fulfill this commitment exposes their neglect of the backward and tribal communities in Khammam,” she said.

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The Centre had on Wednesday declared in the Parliament that there was no feasibility and that it had no plan for setting up the steel plant at Bayyaram.

Speaking to media, Kavitha said that in 2013, BRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao had written a letter to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting him to set up the Bayyaram steel plant since it could generate employment for local youth and had also made arrangements to get around 100 million tonnes of iron ore from the neighbouring Chhattisgarh. She reminded that Bayyaram area itself had over 300 million tonnes of iron ore reserves across 1.41 lakh acres. “Bayyaram ukku, Telangana hakku (Bayyaram steel plant is Telangana’s right),” she asserted.

The BRS MLC said as per the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, whichever party was in the power at the Centre was mandated to establish the steel plant. She suggested that the BJP-led union government should stop making excuses and deliver on its commitment made to the people of Telangana. “It is a shame that none of the eight BJP MPs including union Minister G Kishan Reddy raise issues regarding Telangana’s development in the Parliament,” she said.

Kavitha wanted the Congress government in the State to prioritise the interests of Telangana’s tribal and backward regions. She took a dig at Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy stating that the Minister who raised the Bayyaram steel plant issue in the Parliament as an MP was now silent.