Industries and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao has requested the Central government to take steps to reopen the Cement Corporation of India (CCI)’s plant in Adilabad.
In letters to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey, Mr. Rama Rao said that the unit spread over 772 acres, including a township on 170 acres, had all the necessary infrastructure and limestone reserves to the tune of 48 million tonnes for mining. In addition, it had an assured 2kVA power supply system and water availability to meet its production needs.
The Centre should consider the geographic advantage of Adilabad for reopening the unit that would cater to the cement needs of not just Telangana but also neighbouring States like Maharashtra, he said.
Restarting of the unit would ensure accelerated development of Adilabad, considered among the backward districts, by providing employment to the youth of the district mostly hailing from tribal background. Mr. Rama Rao recalled that the State government had introduced TS-iPASS, a single window system for industrial development, which achieved significant results in terms of attracting investments into Telangana.
Adilabad benefited with the introduction of TS-iPASS and the new industrial policy as soon after, Orient Cements invested US $215 million (₹1,500 crore) at Devapur plant. Infrastructure and construction sectors registered a huge growth since the formation of the new State and the demand for cement was expected to continue in future too as the development was likely to continue.
The Minister said that demand for cement was expected to be high in the coming days and the State government had resolved to take up strengthening of roads and highways under Gati Shakti – National Master Plan scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October.
According to rating agencies such as ICRA and CRISIL and Cement Manufacturers’ Association, focus was likely to be on basic infrastructure and weaker section housing programme in addition to roads and highways that could fuel the demand for cement, he said.
Reopening of the Adilabad unit would go a long way in fortifying the country’s position as a leading cement manufacturer and the Centre should consider factors like scope for imports to Gulf countries and Africa in the coming days for reviving the activities of the cement plant.
KTR expressed concern that the Centre was dilly-dallying on reopening the plant in spite of the positive factors. Though several representations were made for the revival of the unit in the past, there was no response.
He reiterated that the government was prepared to extend incentives on a par with new industrial units if the Centre was willing to revive the Adilabad unit. He averred that the government would continue its efforts to convince the Centre to revive the unit.
