Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has alleged “big corruption” in the State government’s move to hand over the properties of Aluminium Industries Limited (ALIND), a company defunct for the last 26 years, to its promoters Somani Group.
At a press conference here on Wednesday, he said the company had 185 acres of land worth Rs. 4,000 crore distributed across three States. The land held by the company included 100 acres in the Technocity in Hyderabad, besides several acres at Kundara, Mannar and Vilappilsala in Kerala and in Odissa. It also had a building in Mumbai.
“The only intention of the promoters is to get hold of these landed properties,” he alleged. He accused the Chief Minister’s office of trying to facilitate the deal.
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Mr. Achuthanandan said the previous government led by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had introduced an ordinance in 2010 taking over ALIND, but the ordinance had lapsed soon after the United Democratic Front (UDF) came to power in the State. The UDF government also wrote to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) saying that the Somani Group had come with an offer to resume the operations of the company and the offer should be considered favourably.
He noted that the government had assured the Assembly on February 5 this year that the company would not be handed over to Somani Group and all decisions pertaining to it would be taken only in consultation with the labour unions. The labour unions had contested the BIFR ruling in favour of handing over the company to the Somani Group. The State government should implead as a party in this case. Mr. Achuthanandan wanted the government to take over the properties of ALIND through a legislation and the revive operations of the company after restructuring it along the Public-Private-Partnership model.
He also demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigations to bring out the “corruption involved in the move to hand over ALIND to Somani Group.”
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