No privatisation of VSP
Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy with MoS Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, VSP CMD Atul Bhat, Joint Secretary Sanjay Roy, and other senior officers inspecting the miniature model of the Vizag Steel (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam-RINL) factory in Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam: It is now official. There is no question of privatising the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
“The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant has tremendous sentimental and emotional attachment with the people of Andhra Pradesh unlike other steel plants in the country,” said Union Steel and Heavy Industries Minister H D Kumaraswamy here on Thursday.
He said the RINL (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited) family need not panic about the closure of the plant… with the blessings and support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RINL production will reach 100 percent capacity permanently.
The Union minister made it clear that the Centre was keen on reviving the steel plant and turning it into a profit-making unit and was exploring various options in that direction. He said he had even held talks with bankers before coming to Visakhapatnam and was exploring the possibility of getting at least Rs 3,000 crore loan so that the process of turnaround of RINL can be put in motion.
Regarding the lack of dedicated iron ore for the RINL, the minister said talks were on with NMDC so that RINL can get iron ore without any interruption.
Kumaraswamy said he had detailed talks with the management as well as the workers of the steel plant. He said the workers had given various suggestions to revive RINL. He said he would submit a detailed report to the Prime Minister and would discuss all these issues with him. He said the Central government would certainly come out with a solution so that the plant becomes a profit-making unit.
Addressing employees and trade unions' representatives, the minister said RINL will help improve India's GDP.
Later, in a post on X, Kumaraswamy said, “I personally visited and inspected the Vizag Steel Plant in Visakhapatnam…During my visit, I toured various sections of the factory, gathered information, and inspected the production processes alongside senior officials.”
The minister also interacted with representatives of the Steel Executive Association (SEA), among others. He was accompanied by Union Minister of State for Steel and Heavy Industries B Srinivasa Varma, MP M Sribharat, MLA P Vishnu Kumar Raju and former MP GVL Narasimha Rao.