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| Govt to 'gift' Rs 500 cr JKCL to Valley-based biz house | | | Hyder Ali | 3/30/2016 10:27:50 AM |
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Early Times Report
Srinagar, Mar 29: The State Government is all set to "lease out" one of its prized assets, the JK Cements Limited (JKCL) to a prominent business house from the Valley.
The Khrew-based JK Cements, estimated to be worth over Rs 500 croreestablishment, is to be outsourced to the business family, which already owns a private cement factory in the area.
The prospective deal has vindicated the general perception that the profit-earning Public Sector Undertaking, was deliberately being turned into a "sick unit" so as to facilitate its "privatization", which will benefit the particular business house.
Early Times is in possession of relevant documents in support of the story and in the coming days will expose the entire plot behind the conspiracy, seemingly aimed at stripping the government of its prized resources only to benefit the influential families in Kashmir.
Official documents reveal that in pursuance to "backchannel talks with the government top brass", the business family has tabled a formal proposal before the government for the privatization of the JK Cements, which can annually fetch over Rs 300 crore business.
A few weeks ago, the business family approached the nodal office for Public-Private Partnership(PPP) at Civil Secretariat Jammu with the proposal. The 5-page proposal, asks the government to handover the cement factory to the private player so that the latter could expand its production to meet the rising market requirements.
The business family starts with the statement that government was willing to outsource the cement factory.
"It gives us pleasure to know that the state government is keen on encouraging and promoting PPP projects within the state… JK Cements Khrew has always been a key institution in building state's infrastructure as cement supplying company. The demand for cement in the state is likely to increase as the large scale infrastructure projects have been announced and many are already underway. … In this context, we hereby express our interest to modernize, upgrade, manage and operate state government JK Cements at Khrew under the PPP mode," the proposal reads.
The private player has told the government that it would settle down the issue with the employees. "As such we are ready to cooperate in this regard and propose Rs 15 crores for settlement of employees issues to be paid by us to the government within six months from the date of finalization of this proposal," the proposal reads.
The development has come at a time when some technocrats had approached the government with a proposal to revive JK Cements as a profit-making unit. To mention, till 2012, JK Cements was among the "most profitable units" in Kashmir and the government would annually earn crores of rupees dividend.
But thereafter, under mysteriously circumstances, the factory ran into red, never to revive. Insiders have been saying that some ministers in the then Omar Abdullah led government facilitated the "sabotage of the profit earning unit, while some of the officials of repute, who had been behind the success of JK Cements, were strategically shown the door." Some of the officials of integrity had even sought voluntary retirement.
But then things equally failed to improve in the previous PDP-BJP coalition. In August last year, the BJP, which was holding the industries portfolio, hinted at outsource of JKCL.
It is believed that a coterie of ministers from BJP and PDP had been facilitating the deal to benefit the business family.
Earlier on May 31, 2015 the main office of the JKCL was gutted in a mysterious fire at Nawai Subh complex Zero Bridge here. At that time, the corporate Kashmir apprehended that it was conspiracy to destroy relevant documents which highlighted the achievements of this venture and "how any attempt to outsource it would benefit the vested interests."
"The fire at the JK Cements office was not outcome of any accident but a conspiracy aimed to destroy credible documents where in officials had categorically conveyed it to the government that outsourcing the factory would be against the interests of the state," said an insider in the JKCL, asking not to be identified.
He said subsequently an artificial dearth of technical staff was created at the cement factory to project it as a sick unit.
Amid apprehensions of the major sellout, the business community had asked the government to constitute a "fact-finding committee which would identify the factors responsible for taking this enterprise into red." The Kashmir Inc had vehemently opposed the government plans of outsource pleading that it would be undue favor to the influential family.
Finding the BJP in tight-spot the party spokesman Khalid Jehangir had issued an official statement saying that the party has taken a serious note of private cement factories spreading pollution. Jehangir had appealed the then Forest and Environment Minister Bali Baghat to call a special team of environmentalists from New Delhi to check whether these factories are taking enough preventive measures or not.
But as of now the prospective deal seems to have opened Pandora's box of troubles for the second innings of the PDP-BJP coalition.
The Kashmir Inc looks at the deal as a deep rooted conspiracy, which needs to be probed. "This needs to be probed as to how come a profitable unit was turned sick and why it needs to be outsourced," said a delegation of business leaders.
Market pundits feel that a coterie of Kashmir based business families want to have monopoly over cement production so that the consumers could be fleeced through price hike. "Cement factories in Kashmir have become a den of unaccountability. Otherwise there's a logical question that how come did profitable business unit turn sick overnight and why instead of reviving it the government wants to sell it?" asked a market player. |
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