Centre dilly-dallying on steel plant revival plan: How RINL employees keeping fingers crossed on their future

Goings on in VSP:

• Employees on peaceful protest since Jan 2021

• Due diligence by bankers pending

• Demand for merger with SAIL gaining steam

• HLL and NMDC Steel stake sale reassessment

Visakhapatnam: Nearly 13,000-odd employees of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant are keeping their fingers crossed on their future after the widely-publicised visit of Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy, who promised to put the cash-strapped public sector entity back on the right track by convincing Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a ‘revival plan.’

The employees and their families are on a peaceful agitation since January, 2021’s in-principle decision of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to disinvest RINL, its subsidiaries and joint ventures by way of 100 per cent privatisation. After that the protests by the unions has denied any chance for a due diligence study by the merchant bankers. Since then, the unions as well as the Steel Executives’ Association (SEA), the officers’ body, have been demanding merger with SAIL as a long term solution to bail out RINL and make it mutually beneficial for both the steel companies under the Ministry of Steel.

Kumaraswamy during his visit, had promised here on July 11 to take a crucial decision in a month or two on the future of RINL. Though the Union Budget did not bring any relief to the employees, they hope that as an immediate relief, the government might announce a working capital grant to prevent RINL from a hand-to-mouth existence.

The company has a mixed bag comprising bouquets and brickbats in recent days. Its rating has been downgraded by India Ratings and CARE from BB+ to D due to delay in servicing principal and interest to the banks on the term loans it borrowed as on June, 2024. On the other hand, the Visakhapatnam-headquartered company achieved a major milestone by producing 100 million tonnes of saleable steel since its inception. In a posting on X, the company said “This accomplishment reflects our dedication, innovations and unwavering commitment to excellence.”

Recently, a few media reports quoted DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey as saying that reassessment is being made on stake sale in HLL and NMDC Steel. This assumes importance in the wake of Kumaraswamy’s assertion before the union representatives that they are firm in strengthening RINL, while ruling out closure of the steel plant, which was established after ‘Visakha Ukku Andhrula Hakku’ agitation in the 1960s. The agitation had claimed 32 lives in police firing. “While keeping our fingers crossed on our future, we are hoping that as per the promise made by Kumaraswamy and MoS for Steel B Srinivasa Varma, the government will safeguard the interest of the RINL and nearly one lakh families, who depend on their livelihood directly and indirectly on RINL,” J Ayodhyaram, co-chairman of Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Samithi told Bizz Buzz recently.