Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML), which began its operations in 1880, now has grown into a city - Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) - with a population of 2,00,000 people. The KGF locally known as Bangarapet (city of gold) is being mined in and around 50 km range.

The mine has also many firsts with Asia's first hydro power station Shivanasamudra built in 1902 mainly to supply electricity for mining operations. The employees have been housed in the mine area with hospitals, and various engineering, medical and dental colleges in its vicinity. This predominantly labour colony has hardly seen any labour unrest says V Venkatesh, former Lok Sabha member from that area who is here to campaign for keeping the mines alive.

The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) which considered the issue of closure had computed that the BGML had sustained a loss of Rs 30 crore that too because of the discriminatory price policy adopted by the Government with the company had known assets of more than Rs 500 crores built up over the years. "We request your good self to intervene and bring out the company from the clutches of the BIFR'', the workers in their memorandum to Vajpayee said.

The memorandum said the Nandidurg workshop in KGF was already manufacturing railway wagons with a turnover of Rs 700 crore. "Production of wagons or containers was neither complicated nor tedious'', the workers said.

The champion reef workshop, the workers said had all the facility to develop itself as a wagon and coach service centre and it could be converted into a workshop within a few months whose project report was submitted to the Railways.

The workers said BGML had produced Rs 70,000 crore worth gold for the country but did not get good value for its produce because of discriminatory price fixing by the Government of India besides the gold production received the least attention from the planners. The company, if adopted the right attitude and approach, could sustain for at least another 50 years as there was still scope for striking rich at untapped mines in the nearly 1,400 km tunnel.