People pin hopes on Chief Minister to save VSP

Visakhapatnam: At a time when Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) is on a ventilator due to privatisation move of the plant, shortage of funds for working capital and inadequate raw material for production, the ensuing meeting scheduled on Tuesday with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu with the trade unions is expected to give a new ray of hope to the employees.

15 Days ago, the VSP trade unions met Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and explained the real condition of the plant. They briefed how the VSP is facing a financial and raw material crisisEven though Union Minister of Steel and Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy promised to consider measures to operate the VSP with its full capacity of production and its present focus is to help steer towards a profitable path, there is no step taken towards the same.

In such a scenario, the meeting with the CM drew the attention of the employees and North Andhra people. Employees are eagerly waiting for Naidu’s intervention, which is crucial in the NDA government. They opined that the CM has the ability to save the lifeline of Uttarandhra by saving the VSP from getting privatised.

In the last 35 years, the VSP has gone through several ups and downs. Despite not having its own captive mines, it has been making huge profits and expanding its production capacity in a phased manner. The plant has received many national and international awards and provides employment to over 3 lakh people directly and indirectly.

The VSP registered Rs 28,000 crore turnover and 900 crore net profit by 2021, the plant gradually incurred Rs 5,000 crore losses in these four years due to the Centre’s decisions. Before the general elections in many states, the respective state governments and various political parties came together to put pressure on the Central government and save the public sector units from getting privatised. However, due to the political instability in Andhra Pradesh, the plant has suffered huge losses for the past five years.

Apparently, people are pinning hopes that the state government will save the VSP and bring back its lost glory through timely intervention.