
Process of reviving Salem Steel Plant at preliminary stage: Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy
Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy said the process of reviving the Salem Steel Plant is at a preliminary stage, on Saturday (June 21, 2025.)
The Union Minister participated in the International Yoga Day celebrations at Salem Steel Plant on Saturday and performed asanas.
International Yoga Day LIVE updates: Yoga teaches us we are not isolated individuals but integral parts of nature: PM Modi
Later, speaking to the reporters, the Union Minister congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for encouraging the Hindu culture of yoga. 'Every year on June 21, the Prime Minister himself attends yoga and encourages every family to do yoga, as it is a must to look after their health. By participating in yoga, the Prime Minister also encouraged the world to do yoga.'
Stating that it is his second visit to Salem Steel Plant after becoming Union Minister, Mr. Kumaraswamy said, 'We are working out how to revive Salem Steel Plant. We have constituted two consultative committees to give their recommendations to improve the Salem Steel Plant technically and market-wise, which are in the preliminary stage. We have a sentiment about the plant that it was earlier running successfully and each family had this plant product. In the year 2003-04, the plant functioned with ₹180 crore profit. But now, in the last 10 to 15 years, the profit is declining and steps are being taken to sort this out, which are in preliminary stages.'
International Yoga Day 2025 — In pictures
1 /
21
The Prime Minister and also the Finance Minister have commitments to save these kinds of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). The decline of the Salem Steel Plant allegedly started during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre between 2004 and 2014. Since the steps to revive this plant are still in the preliminary stage, we expect to receive proper information within the next four or five months. Several consumer products could be produced at Salem Plant and we are working on it. 'At present, there is no idea for new recruitment for the plant and the first duty is to save this plant and sort out the workers issue and after strengthening the plant, there will be new recruitment,' the Minister added.
Responding to a question on the BJP trying to divide regional parties, the Union Minister replied that the BJP is not dividing the parties. The regional parties in some States are dividing themselves owing to personal issues. The BJP is working to strengthen the country.
Regarding the language issue in releasing the actor Kamal Haasan-starred Thug Life movie in Karnataka, the Minister said the movie was released already.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hindu
25 minutes ago
- The Hindu
‘Youth from families who benefited from land reforms, welfare schemes are now swayed by Hindutva politics'
Youth belonging to second and third generation of families that benefited from the land reforms of the 1970s and other welfare schemes now embracing Hindutva ideology is among the factors responsible for the religious polarisation of communities in the coastal region, especially in Dakshina Kannada, according a legislator who was part of the KPCC's fact-finding committee that toured the region and looked into this issue. To counter Hindutva politics, Muslim youth too have been polarising the community on religious identity and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has been sowing seeds of 'communal politics' by raising funds, actively mobilising and organising the youth, the legislator said. Interim report The KPCC committee, which visited Dakshina Kannada district and met people from all walks of life — from politicians to ordinary citizens — submitted its interim report to party State president and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Thursday. The legislator told The Hindu that a large section of the backward classes families in the district benefited from the land reforms introduced by the Congress government led by the late D. Devaraj Urs. The next generations of these families, both educated and uneducated, are 'intoxicated by the Hindutva ideology', he said. Hindutva groups have consolidated power by waging hate campaigns against minorities citing what they call historical incidents, the legislator said. 'Soft attitude' A 'soft attitude' towards Hindutva activists by government officials and the police force and the absence of credible Congress leadership in the region has given rise to communal tendencies, he said. 'The Muslims are asking us what have you (Congress) given to us and we are surprised,' the leader said. The BJP won seven of the eight Assembly constituencies in Dakshina Kannada district in the 2023 elections. The BJP also won the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha seats. Noting a strong presence of religious-based identities among the people, the member said, 'It is difficult to find any prevalence of the secular ideas in the region.' Ways of mobilising Besides increased religious events these days among Hindu and Muslim communities, the member said Hindus have been mobilised and organised through temple renovation programmes, bhajana mandali events and holding functions such as seminars and talks by inviting well-known Hindutva leaders. The BJP leaders have indulged in 'negative' politics to counter the 'positive' developments raised by the Congress, the leader claimed. Mangaluru and the regions surrounding it have witnessed three back-to-back murders: the mob lynching of 38-year-old Ashraf from Kerala, the hacking to death of 30-year-old double murder accused Suhas Shetty, and the killing of 32-year-old Abdul Rahiman, general secretary of a local masjid committee. All these deaths ignited communal passions in the region. Following these crimes, the State government has set up a special action force in the sensitive districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Shivamogga.


Hans India
35 minutes ago
- Hans India
BJP-JD(U) ruined Bihar's economy and social fabric in last 20 years: Congress
Patna: Congress on Saturday slammed the BJP-JD(U) alliance in Bihar over 'ruining' the state's economy and social fabric in the last 20 years of their rule. 'The BJP-JD(U) alliance has ruined Bihar's economy, governance, and social fabric during their 20-year rule. This has been clearly proven by the reports of the reputed global institutions. That's why we've launched a campaign to expose how Bihar has suffered under Nitish Kumar's leadership,' said Congress spokesperson Prem Chand Mishra while addressing a press conference in Patna. As part of the campaign, Mishra cited a recent report by CARE Ratings, a global agency, which ranked Bihar last among 17 large Indian states on key development indicators. 'Bihar received just 34.8 points in the Social and Economic Development Index, scoring the lowest across parameters such as education, health, infrastructure, fiscal management, and economic activity,' Mishra said. Based on the CARE Ratings Report, Mishra pointed out that Bihar ranks 17th out of 17 major states on social and economic development. He said that poor performance in education quality, maternal and infant mortality rates, employment generation, weak scores on women empowerment, infrastructure, per capita income, alarming fiscal indicators, including debt management, interest payment ratio, fiscal deficit, severe deficiencies in electricity access, railway density, healthcare services, and school teacher ratios. He also said that the weak judicial efficiency, e-governance, investment environment, and environmental metrics are also poor, including air quality and renewable energy adoption. 'Bihar is now behind even Rajasthan, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh — states it once competed with. The figures speak for themselves, and corruption and poor governance are to blame,' Mishra said. He alleged that the government's much-publicised development narrative is hollow and lacks substance on the ground. Mishra added that even the Union government data contradicts the NDA's claims of progress. 'Bihar is in deep crisis, socially, economically, and administratively. The only way out is a change in government and a policy revolution,' he concluded. This marks a major strategic move by the Congress to build a data-backed campaign against the NDA ahead of the Assembly elections. With just four months to go, the party appears poised to corner the ruling alliance on its development record, particularly using central and global institutional reports as ammunition.


The Hindu
40 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Minister directs DC to allot Pumpwell bus stand land to KSRTC to operate electric city buses
Dakshina Kannada district in charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Saturday, June 21, directed the district administration to handover seven acres of land at Pumpwell to Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to enable it to operate electric buses on city routes. In a letter to the Deputy Commissioner, the Minister said the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) had acquired the land to build a satellite bus terminal in the city. Now the central government has sanctioned 100 e-buses to KSRTC's Mangaluru Division under the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme, the land may be handed over to KSRTC free of cost, the Minister said. Mr. Rao also directed the Deputy Commissioner to hand over 9.9 acres of land belonging to the gram panchayat at Balepuni village near Mudipu, off Mangaluru, free of cost to KSRTC to set up electric bus depot and construct divisional workshop. Eleven cities As many as 11 cities in Karnataka have qualified to introduce electric buses under the PM-eBus Sewa Scheme, according to Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy. Besides Mangaluru, the cities included Mysuru, Davangere, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Belagavi, Hubballi, Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Ballari, and Vijayapura. The three State-owned transport corporations under whose jurisdiction the cities were located, have submitted a demand for total 795 e-buses under the scheme. While KSRTC had demanded 100 buses for Mysuru and Mangaluru and 50 buses for Davanagere, Shivamogga and Tumakuru, North West KRTC had sought 100 for Belagavi and 110 buses for Hubballi-Dharwad. The Kalyana Karnataka RTC wanted 100 buses for Kalaburagi, 55 for Bellari and 80 buses for Vijayapura. The Central government wanted to boost electric mobility infrastructure in the country through the scheme that envisages deployment of 10,000 electric buses in 169 cities in the country through a Central outlay of ₹20,000 crore under public-private partnership mode. The total estimated cost of the scheme would be ₹57,613 crore. Covering cities with three lakh and more population, the scheme would support bus operations for 10 years.