Negotiations on with GAIL to employ 34 people troubled by JBF crisis: MB Patil

PTI, Feb 14, 2024, 8:46 AM IST

The Karnataka government is in talks with the Centre to provide jobs at Gas Authority of India Limited to 34 employees who are left in the lurch due to a financial crisis in JBF Industries Ltd, state Large and Medium Industries minister MB Patil said on Tuesday in the legislative council.

He was replying to a question by Congress member Manjunath Bhandari. The minister said that talks will be held again with top officials of GAIL.

The minister’s reference was to 34 people who were evicted after they gave their lands to JBF Industries Ltd in Mangalore Special Economic Zone (SEZ). According to the government rules, the company should have employed 115 such people who gave up their land for the project. Later, the company employed only 81 of them in 2012. However, the company ran into a financial crisis in 2017 and was handed over to Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) as per the process held at NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal).

Though GAIL paid them wages till March 2023, problems cropped up when the PSU decided to re-hire them based on their performance in the written and oral tests it would conduct, the Minister explained, though as per regulations, employing eligible families who lost their land for industrial purposes is mandatory. Now, considering the plight of those who are facing potential job loss, the Dakshina Kannada District Commissioner and Mangalore SEZ Development Commissioner have held several meetings to resolve the issue, he said.

In addition, the CEO of GMPL (GAIL Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd) has been instructed to obtain the required approval to continue their employment in the meeting chaired by District in-charge Minister Dinesh Gundu rao on November 7, 2023, he added.

Answering another question in the council, he said a plastic park is being set up over 104.28 acres in an industrial area in Mangaluru taluk. The Minister added that the project is being funded by the central and state government in a ratio of 50:50 and the work is under progress.