Jeypore: Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati met the managing director of BILT paper mill Gautam Thapar and urged him to resume the production of the paper mill at Gaganpur of the district.
Sources said, about 5000 regular employees and contract workers of the paper mill have been rendered jobless over last ten months and denied wages due to shutdown of the mill.
The company has been carrying the loan amount of Rs1000 crore including water dues, commercial tax and power tariff to the state government for a long time.
Bahinipati, during his discussion with Thaper, asked him to extend all support in terms of grants and concession after he urged the state government to make the plant functional.
Thaper assured Bahinipati to pay one month salary of all workers and start the paper mill again by investing Rs50 crore.
He said he will meet Chief Minister of Odisha in order to sign the memorandum with the state government.
The Thapar-owned Ballarpur Industries Ltd (Bilt) power outfit- BILT Power- proposes to set up a 1,200-MW independent power plant (IPP) in Odisha at an investment of around Rs 6,000 crore.
General Secretary of BILT Sewa Paper Mill Employees Union Pramod Mohanty said former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik had revived the plant four years after it was closed in 1991.
He extended all support in terms of grants and concessions and since then, the paper plant functioned normally for 27 years.
But the management once again faced financial loss and stopped production from June 2019. It was closed in June as the outstanding dues towards electricity and water tax reached Rs 1000 crore.
