Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Saturday defended the decision taken by the State Government to allot captive iron ore mining leases to the Visakhapatnam steel plant in the Telangana region.
He was speaking at a public meeting at Vepagunta village near here after launching the Amma Hastam scheme meant to provide nine essentials to white ration cardholders at Rs 185 per month.
He said the Visakhapatnam steel plant - RINL was a national project and its growth would benefit all regions of the State as well as the nation.
Therefore, narrow considerations should be given up and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti leaders should understand that RINL would set up a beneficiation plant in Telangana and there was also scope for developing many ancillaries in the region.
The project would help generate employment on a substantial scale in the Telangana region and therefore their opposition to the decision of the Government lacked substance, he added.
RINL directors and senior officials thanked the Chief Minister for in-principle agreement to allot mines at Bayyaram and other places in Telangana and urged him to submit the proposal to the Union Ministry of Mines as early as possible.
They said that discussions would be held this week with the officials of the AP Mineral Development Corporation on the modalities for undertaking iron ore mining in the region.