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Karnataka Large and Medium Industries Minister MB Patil on Thursday said that there is a possibility of restarting the operations of the Mysuru Paper Mill in Bhadravati.
Karnataka Minister Patil chaired a high-level meeting regarding this on Thursday with Bhadravati MLA BK Sangamesh and concerned officials. During the meeting, Minister MB Patil instructed Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma to call a meeting to look at the issues of total outstanding by the factory, and pending electricity and power bill and further decide on the future steps to be taken. He also suggested that Finance Department ACS LK Atheeq and Industries Department Principal Secretary S.Selvakumar should be part of the meeting. "MPM which was the dream project of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Sir M Vishwesharaya now stands at a loss of Rs. 1,482 crores. Besides, it has a pending electricity bill to the tune of Rs 229 crores. The state government has provided Rs 850 crores to MPM as financial aid in the form of loan since 2010," the Minister said. Patil emphasised that the cooperation of the finance department was necessary to deal with the present burden. He added that the matter regarding the privatisation of the unit will be considered after conducting a meeting with officials. "There exists a total of 23,000 hectares of forest and non-forest land under MPM's jurisdiction where currently acacia, eucalyptus, and bamboo are being grown," he said. Patil directed the officials to examine closely whether the eucalyptus which has been banned can be allowed to grow in case if it is leased out. "In addition to this, the employees of MPM are being provided placements in various organisations, corporations and boards of the government. Some of the employees have been relieved by facilitating voluntary retirement. There is also a need to find a way to increase the wages of 250 forest watchers who are working on a casual basis," he said. (ANI)
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