Helping steel majors set up units top priority: Virbhadra Singh

October 14th, 2009 SHIMLA - The two major political parties in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Wednesday did not name their candidates even as nominations opened for the by-elections to two assembly constituencies. Rohru and Jawali constituencies fell vacant after the respective legislators from there - Virbhadra Singh and Rajan Sushant - contested and won the Lok Sabha elections in May.

October 8th, 2009 SHIMLA - Two women are hoping to make it a family affair by contesting for two Himachal Pradesh assembly seats that were vacated by their husbands who are now Lok Sabha MPs. Pratibha Singh, wife of former Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, is eyeing the ticket for the Rohru seat whereas Sudha Sushant, wife of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Rajan Sushant, is hoping to contest from Jawali.

September 22nd, 2009 SHIMLA - Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh Tuesday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into police in Himachal Pradesh giving a clean chit to all the accused in an alleged high-profile call girl racket. "The state government has hushed up the matter as senior functionaries of the ruling (Bharatiya Janata Party) party and officials of the government were involved.

August 31st, 2009 SHIMLA - Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh Monday said the National Mining Development Corporation (NMDC) will sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with steel companies to sell limestone mined in Himachal Pradesh. "The NMDC will soon sign MoUs with end-users, especially steel plants, as the limestone to be extracted in the Arki region is a vital raw material for making steel," Singh told IANS.

August 13th, 2009 SHIMLA - Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal Thursday denied that the state government was going slow on the corruption cases registered against Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh, and stressed that the investigation agencies "are on the job". "The government is not dragging its feet in the corruption cases registered against Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh.

August 5th, 2009 SHIMLA - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Himachal Pradesh Wednesday demanded that Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh resign over the corruption charges filed against him. "We are demanding the resignation of Virbhadra Singh as his name figures in corruption deals," BJP spokesperson and legislator Randhir Sharma told reporters here.

August 4th, 2009 SHIMLA - Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh have been booked for corruption by police in Himachal Pradesh, officials said Tuesday. The complaint against them was on the basis of a CD released in May 2008.

August 4th, 2009 SHIMLA - Police in Himachal Pradesh have filed corruption cases against Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh, officials said Tuesday. The complaint against Singh was misuse of official position and criminal misconduct when chief minister in 1989, a charge denied by him.

July 11th, 2009 BHILAI - India's steel production will surge to 124 million tonnes (MT) per annum by 2011-12 from the current figure of 65 mt, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said here Saturday. "There is a massive expansion going on in the steel sector in country, both in the public and private sectors, that will see India becoming a major steel producer by 2011-12 when its steel production will be 124 mt from the present production of 65 mt," the minister said at a press conference here.

July 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India will speed up the process of granting iron ore mining licenses to various steel companies, including South Korea's Posco, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said here Wednesday. "We are planning to almost double the production of steel and for that we have to speed up greenfield projects," Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a steel conference.

July 8th, 2009 NEW - The steel industry, supported by domestic demand and the government's increased infrastructure spending, will witness a growth this fiscal, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said here Wednesday. "The industry will see a major recovery this year and will grow at six-eight percent," Singh said at a conference organised by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

June 12th, 2009 SHIMLA - Expansion and modernisation of state-run steel plants to double their output are among the top priorities of the government, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said here Friday. "Our main priority is to expand and modernise the state-run steel plants so that their capacity would be doubled," he told reporters here.

June 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh Wednesday pushed for divestment of stake in companies under his ministry and said he would take up the issue of adequate supplies of feedstock for steel units with the states concerned. "If the policy of disinvestment is approved, we have some companies on our mind, Singh told reporters while presenting his ministry's agenda for the next 100 days.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh Friday said ensuring the timely completion of the expansion projects drawn up by state-run steel units to increase the production of the commodity was among his top priorities. There is also the need restructure the small steel public sector undertakings and attempt to merge them to bring about more synergies among them, Singh told reporters here after taking charge his new portfolio.

May 16th, 2009 SHIMLA - Virbhadra Singh of the Congress has won Himachal Pradesh's Mandi parliamentary constituency, a poll official said Saturday. The five-time chief minister defeated his nearest rival Maheshwar Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by 13,997 votes, state chief electoral officer Anil Khachi told IANS.