Visakhapatnam: Protest held for more coal to RINL

Visakhapatnam: CITU district general secretary RKSV Kumar and Public Sector Coordination Committee Convener S Jyoteeswara Rao demanded the Union government to supply sufficient coal to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL).

Staging a protest at GVMC Gandhi statue on Tuesday, they demanded Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to intervene in the coal matter and put pressure on the Central government.

The leaders pointed out that there is a high risk of disruption of production in Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) due to shortage of coal.

They mentioned that the Union government is supplying coal to many steel industries in India such as Tata Steel, Jindal and SR Steel etc. But the same government was intentionally creating hurdles to VSP in supplying coal, they alleged.

Kumar expressed concern over the BJP government for not supplying required coal from mines. It impacts plant production and pushes it into losses. Due to lack of coal the VSP has to pay additionally Rs 12,000 crore a year for importing coal from Australia, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Jyoteeswara Rao said shortage in coal supply impacted the steel production. A blast furnace was already closed due to lack of coal supply and another blast furnace is likely to be closed down next, he mentioned. The CITU leaders demanded that the YSRCP government should not limit itself to advertisements but work towards mounting pressure on the Centre.

The chief minister who is coming to Visakhapatnam on July 15 should take the initiative to bring the leaders of all trade unions on one platform and fix an appointment with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resolve the issues of the steel plant.

Among others, CITU leaders KM Kumar Mangalam, P Mani, M Subbarao and Chandramouli were present.