The Centre will happily sell five per cent stake in the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) to the Tamil Nadu government as desired by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, said Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan on Saturday.
“By all means, the State government can buy it. We are not opposed to it. Why five per cent? It can even buy 10 per cent stake. Our intention is not to sell the stakes to any private or multi-national corporate houses,” Mr Natchiappan told reporters when asked about Ms. Jayalalithaa’s letter to the Prime Minister.
On labour unrest looming large, the Minister said even NLC workers could buy the shares in exchange of their one-day’s wage. Asked why Gujarat was attracting more investments than Tamil Nadu, he said delay in giving the requisite clearances slowed down investments.
Meanwhile, Ms. Jayalalithaa asked her partymen to hold demonstrations outside Central government offices in district headquarters on Tuesday.
