ANANTAPUR: Rayadurg Steel Plant Udyama Committee has demanded that the rich iron ore available in the mines of Obulapuram in D. Hirehal mandal be utilised for setting up a steel plant in the Rayadurg region. Establishing a steel plant in the region has been a demand of people in the Rayadurg area.
Ballari mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy, who owns the Obulapuram Mining Company, had reportedly got permission to set up a steel plant – Brahmani Steels, in Kadapa district 10 years ago. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has now set the foundation stone for a steel plant in Kadapa district based on the iron ore deposits available in the Rayadurg area. But the project went into limbo when Janardhan Reddy faced a CBI inquiry over charges that he is carrying out illegal mining activities in reserved forest.
The then Congress Chief Minister N. Kirankumar Reddy set the foundation for Kuduremukh Steel Plant by using the sources available in the Rayadurg area. However, the project did not move any further. Given the background, a group of youth from Rayadurg area have formed a Steel Plant Udyama Samithi, demanding that political parties extend their support for starting a steel plant in Rayadurg itself. They maintain that the locally available iron ore is rich enough to make Rayadurg area a steel hub of Andhra Pradesh. Samithi convener B.M. Nadel feels Rayadurg, which is a drought-hit area and witnesses migration of people from the region, can benefit hugely if a steel plant is established using the iron ore available in Obulapuram of Rayadurg area.
