SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

,The Hindu

Seeking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention, Union Minister of State for Commerce & Industry D. Purandeswari on Tuesday said the government should not allow sale of residual stake in Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) to Vedanta Group.

Stating that during NDA regime, under the garb of disinvestment, 71 per cent of stake was divested to Vedanta Group. Now the group was trying to buy the remaining stake and indulge in real estate business by jeopardising the interest of employees and contact workers engaged at Zinc Smelter in the city.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, she referred to the statement made by Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal on plans to purchase residual stake in HZL and pleaded that at any cost the interest of people depending on Zinc Smelter for direct and indirect employment should be protected. She also regretted denial of salaries to the employees for past two months.