RINL top brass calls for collaborative efforts to achieve turnaround in 2024

Addressing the technical bottlenecks, financial issues and working capital issues, debt reduction strategies, ensuring raw material linkages, enhancing the production to 100 per cent capacity utilisation and most importantly alignment of thinking among all the employees will help RINL to come out of this crisis situation - Atul Bhatt, CMD, RINL

RINL’s achievements in 2023

• RINL has entered into a crucial MoU with JSPL to secure working capital support
• Achieved a sales turnover of Rs 16,766 cr, a 21% growth in sales volume
• Impressive growth is noted in TMT bars (18%), wire rod coils (57%), and structural sales (19%)

Visakhapatnam: Expressing resolve to weather the challenges ahead in the New Year, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) Chairman-cum-Managing Director Atul Bhatt on Monday exuded confidence that the company is cruising ahead to achieve a turnaround emphasising the need for collaborative efforts.

The remarks assumes significances in the wake of RINL's MoU with Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) for ensuring much needed working capital support for raw material requirement to resume production through Blast Furnace-3 (named on December 30 as Annapurna) at a capacity of two lakh tonnes hot metal per month. The management entered into collaboration with a projected availability of Rs 800 crore to Rs 900 crore in the form of working capital advance/raw materials to ensure continuous operation of BF-3.

RINL is the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, India's first shore-based integrated steel plant with an annual production capacity of 7.3 million tonnes.

Addressing senior executives, employees and other stakeholders at the New Year celebrations held at MP Hall of Ukkunagaram Club, Bhatt said, “I am confident that 2024 will be a very promising year for RINL." He expressed his strong belief in the potential and commitment of the employees and exhorted them to put their act together to make 2024 a year of turnaround.

Earlier, the CMD along with DK Mohanty, Director (Commercial), Dr SC Pandey, Director (Personnel) holding additional charge as Director (Finance) and AM Haneef, Commandant, CISF cut a cake to mark the New Year celebrations. Speaking on the occasion, Bhatt conveyed his New Year greetings to all employees, their families and business associates. “Let us together pledge to make 2024 a turnaround year for RINL,” he said, giving a clarion call to the RINL collective for making concerted efforts to achieve the goals ahead.

Sharing the RINL’s robust turnaround plan with the executives and the workforce, Bhatt said that addressing the technical bottlenecks, financial issues and working capital issues, debt reduction strategies, ensuring raw material linkages, enhancing the production to 100 per cent capacity utilisation and most importantly alignment of thinking among all the employees will help RINL to come out of this crisis situation. Exuberating confidence in the RINL team and their spirit and bonding with the company, the top brass urged the support of RINL workforce, unions and other business associates to make 2024 a turnaround year for RINL.

He thanked the Union Steel Minister, Steel Ministry and the entire RINL workforce for their unstinted support towards the company's efforts towards staging a turnaround. Earlier, the Corporate Strategic Management Department highlighted various achievements achieved in 2023 through a powerpoint presentation.

At a program held later in the evening, Bhatt along with other dignitaries released a trilingual annual in-house newsletter Ukkuvani, carrying stories of the major events/achievements/highlights during 2023.

It may be noted that RINL could register impressive performance on the production and marketing fronts during the period April-December, 2023. On the marketing front, RINL achieved a sales turnover of Rs 16,766 crore and registered an impressive 21 per cent growth in sales volume, 23 per cent in domestic sales and 47 per cent in sale of value added steel. On the sales front, RINL also registered an impressive growth of 18 per cent in TMT bars, 57 per cent in wire rod coils and 19 per cent in sales of structural over the corresponding period, last year On the production front, RINL’s crude Steel production crossed 100 MT landmark since inception in June 2023,.