Disinvestment: Where Time Stands Still

DISINVESTMENT
Where Time Stands Still

With no signs of an early end to the Balco strike, ancillary and auxiliary units in Korba are as clueless as the workers about what the future holds for them.

By Seetha

An eerie silence hangs over BALCO Nagar in Korba. No clouds of smoke, from the chimneys of the country's now most-controversial public sector undertaking-Bharat Aluminium Corporation (BALCO)-mar the clear blue April skies. The 400 smelter pots, unused since March 3, have frozen over.

No crowds throng the food stalls outside the factory gates. And Bhaiya Lal misses the lunch hour rush at his Madhuban Hotel. The only activity is in a small tent pitched outside the boundary wall, where leaders of the BALCO Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (BBSS) bolster the spirits of a group of protesters with food for the body and rhetoric for the soul.

The same silence hangs heavy 4 km away in Korba's Industrial Area, home to some dozen-odd ancillary and auxiliary units of BALCO. The furnaces of the seven units supplying burnt lime to BALCO have gone cold. Work is at a standstill in the three factories that purchased vanadium sludge from BALCO and converted it into vanadium, used as a catalyst in sulphuric acid plants. Rues Vijay Khetrapal, owner of Vijay Lime Industries: ''The strike was like a sudden death message to all of us.''

There are similar tales, 200 km away in the Urla Industrial Area of Raipur. Work at the Shivali Wire Products factory has stopped since April 10, when the last of the stocks of EC grade aluminium were used up to manufacture wires and transformers.

"The biggest loss is that of my peace of mind"
VIMAL KOHLI, Proprietor, Shiva Industries

Proprietor Mahesh Kakkar had never bothered keeping more than five tonnes of raw material. He always got fresh stocks from BALCO within a week of submitting a letter of credit (LC). Kakkar now has to get raw material from the Hindustan Aluminium Company (HINDALCO) factory in Uttar Pradesh and the National Aluminium Corporation (NALCO) factory in Orissa. He paid Rs 16 lakh to NALCO on March 24, and the delivery order was cleared only on April 18. At the time this article went to press he was still waiting for the supplies to arrive and for his machines to hum again. He's not sure when he'll get his supplies from HINDALCO, to whom he has paid Rs 20 lakh in advance. The LCS aren't acceptable any more.

What's more, both HINDALCO and NALCO have hiked prices. Madras Aluminium Company (MALCO)-also from the Sterlite stable-hasn't, but transporting aluminium all the way from Tamil Nadu will prove costly. Kakkar's inventory costs have also shot up. He has to order at least 12 tonnes at a time, since that's the minimum truckload for which he has to pay.

Chhedilal Agrawal, proprietor of Prakash Grinding Works, which manufactures aluminium powder, cubes and utensils, is a trifle luckier. In order to avoid shutting down his factory even for a day, he cut production-by 30 per cent in March, and 60 per cent in April. So, his raw material stocks will last till fresh supplies come from Indian Aluminium Company (INDAL) in Kolkata. Agrawal's freight costs have increased 5 per cent, wiping out his profit margin.

Cash flows have been thrown out of gear. BALCO owes Rs 65 lakh to Korba's lime units for burnt lime supplied in February. In Raipur, Kakkar had made an advance payment of Rs 10 lakh to BALCO, weeks before the strike. He has written thrice to BALCO, asking for a refund since supplies are unlikely, but to no avail. Agrawal, too, has Rs 3.5 lakh stuck with BALCO.

What these businessmen can't reconcile themselves to is the loss of their carefully matured markets. Kakkar's clients have already cancelled orders worth Rs 14 lakh because he hasn't been able to meet delivery schedules. He can only wring his hands in despair and watch his competitors move in. ''How will I ever win back my customers?'' he laments. The lime units, which catered exclusively to BALCO, are trying to woo customers in the steel, paper and whitewash business. But it's tough competing against established suppliers.

"Now I have to think of doing some other Business"
VIJAY KHETRAPAL, Proprietor, Vijay Lime Industries

Even as politicians and trade union leaders collect funds to feed BALCO's workers, no one is shedding tears for the 500-odd workers of these smaller units who are now unemployed. Khetrapal had 45 workers; he now has only two chowkidars. All 20 workers in Vimal Kohli's ferro vanadium unit have left. Yes, even Bhaiya Lal has got rid of six workers. ''Where I was getting Re 1 earlier, I am now getting 25 paise,'' he explains.

Ask M.L. Rajak, Secretary of the BBSS about them and he immediately launches into a lecture on Fidel Castro. ''Unka naam suna hai (have you heard of him)?'' he mocks. Persist and he blames the central government for the situation.

That's exactly the same response one gets from Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Ajit Jogi when he's posed this question. Point out that it is his state which is suffering and he resorts to rhetoric: ''The workers have taken a bold and courageous stand. We didn't ask them to go on strike, they thought this was the beginning of the end.''

Maybe that's why people like Kohli don't see the point in meeting leaders with their own list of woes. ''When the matter is politicised, what is the use of talking to anyone? Who will listen to reason?''

Who indeed.

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