Bengaluru: Large and Medium Industries Minister M. B. Patil has initiated efforts to discuss ways about the possibility of restarting the operations of Bhadravati MPM.
He chaired a high-level meeting regarding this on September 7 with Bhadravati MLA B. K. Sangamesh and concerned officials.
While convening a detailed discussion he instructed Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma to call a meeting to look at the issues of total outstanding by the factory, and pending electricity/power bill and to decide about the future steps to be taken. He also suggested that Finance Department ACS L. K. Atheeq and Industries Department Principal Secretary S. Selvakumar should be part of the meeting.
“MPM which was the dream project of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Sir M. Visveswarayya now stands at a loss of Rs. 1,482 Crore. Besides, it has a pending electricity bill to the tune of Rs. 229 Crore. The state Government has provided Rs. 850 Crore to MPM as financial aid in the form of loan since 2010,” Minister explained.
Patil emphasised that the cooperation of the Finance Department was necessary to deal with the present burden. He added that the matter regarding the privatisation of the unit will be considered after conducting a meeting with officials.
Saying, there exists a total of 23,000 hectares of forest and non-forest land under MPM’s jurisdiction where currently acacia, eucalyptus, and bamboo are being grown, Patil directed the officials to examine closely whether the eucalyptus which has been banned can be allowed to grow in case if it is leased out.
In addition to this, the employees of MPM are being provided placements in various organisations/corporations/boards of the government. Some of the employees have been relieved by facilitating voluntary retirement. There is also a need to find a way to increase the wages of 250 forest watchers who are working on a casual basis, he remarked.