DMK chief MK Stalin writes to Nitin Gadkari opposing privatisation of Tamil Nadu's Kamarajar Port

DMK Leader M K Stalin today wrote to Union Shipping and Roadways Minister Nitin Gadkari, opposing any move to privatise “profit-making” Kamarajar Port at Ennore here. [caption id=“attachment_3007090” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] DMK’s MK Stalin. PTI[/caption] Stalin, the leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly, told Gadkari that no “prudent administrator” will allow “an economically viable and highly profitable port to be privatised, jeopardising the interests of all stakeholders.” “As could be seen from the annual reports published under the authority of the Union of India, this port is a profit making institution and it can never be allowed to be trusted in the basket of ports to be privatised,” he said. The PSU has been playing a crucial role as an effective and efficient engine of industrial and economic development of the country, he added. Stalin recalled that the DMK-led government had allotted 3,000 acres of land for the port, which was dedicated to the nation by then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and M Karunanidhi, who was chief Minister, in 2001. He also pointed out that Kamarajar Port’s profit was more than Rs 480 crore in 2016-17. “I therefore appeal to you to kindly use your good offices and take all steps to desist from divesting the hundred per cent shares of the Govt of India in Kamarajar Port and stop the move to privatise it,” he urged Gadkari.