Steel execuitives’ protest seeking SAIL, RINL merger

Visakhapatnam: Officers working in various public sector steel plants staged a 12-hour protest here on Sunday demanding the re-merger of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) following a call by the Steel Executive Federation of India (SEFI).

The protest was organised close on the heels of the visit of Union Steel and Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy to RINL and NMDC head offices in Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. RINL was separated from SAIL in 1982 as a 100 per cent Government of India’s holding company.

SEFI chairman Narendra Kumar Banchore, general secretary Abacus Mallick, Bhilai Steel Plant Officers’ Association president Parvinder Singh and others held a discussion with RINL Chairman-cum-Managing Director Atul Bhatt on Saturday and tried to understand various strategies for achieving a turnaround of the cash-strapped RINL.

Steel Executives’ Association president Katam Chandra Rao and general secretary KVD Prasad said they were of firm view that the re-merger of RINL with SAIL will convert them into a giant steel company. They said it will also help in meeting SAIL’s commitment to invest Rs1.10 lakh crore in its expansion. The Centre has already set a target to expand the country’s capacity from 160 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes by 2030. There is another demand to merge NMDC’s Nagarnar Steel Plant with RINL.