GVL requests Union Minister to ease RINL woes

Visakhapatnam: BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao met Union Minister for Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi and sought adequate supply of coal plus extended credit period for Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

Continuing his efforts towards ministerial level intervention and help VSP tide over its raw material and working capital crunch, the MP met the Union Minister and discussed lack of supply of adequate quantity of coking coal from Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and boiler coal from Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) - both subsidiaries of public sector Coal India Limited - to VSP on extended credit to tide over the challenges. Submitting a letter to the Union Minister, GVL stated that RINL has suffered severe financial constraints for decades as the public sector plant did not have captive coal and iron ore mines which eventually resulted in higher cost of production. Also, the production has largely been affected in recent months due to the non-availability of domestic coal for steel production and high cost of imported coal, the MP mentioned.

GVL further stated that the RINL has also been facing severe working capital crunch due to rising cost of raw materials, unfavourable market conditions and that the coal PSUs are not offering credit to RINL for its requirements. Responding to the request, the Union Minister instructed the concerned officers to examine the issue and assured every possible help to get adequate supply of coal for RINL from coal PSUs.