RINL unions oppose as NBCC ready with DPR
Sale of land will be counter-productive. We want the Centre to explore other options to put RINL back on right track — D Adinarayana, AITUC general secretary
image for illustrative purpose
Visakhapatnam: THE trade unions of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, which are agitating against privatisation proposals by the Centre, have strongly opposed the efforts to monetise its surplus lands.
The unions threatened to intensify agitation particularly over the decision of State-owned NBCC India Limited to submit a detailed project report on monetisation of 22.19 acres RINL owns at HB Colony, Seethammadhara in the heart of the city. According to preliminary estimates, the land sale will fetch around Rs 1,000 crore.
At present, the market rate anywhere in the city is not less than Rs 1 lakh per square yard. The State Government itself wanted sometime back to sell land taken over from LuLu Group, after allotting it for development of an international convention centre, at over Rs 100 crore per acre. The land in question has a beachfront view. "We will oppose lock, stock and barrel any attempt to sell 22.19 acres at HB Colony as well as other parcels of land not used till date at Ukkunagaram, Vadlapudi and Pedagantyada," J Ayodharam, Steel Plant Employees' Union (recognised union) president, told Bizz Buzz. RINL, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant has a land bank of nearly 20,000 acres. Before the in-principle clearance by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, RINL has entered into an MoU to explore establishing a joint venture with POSCO to set up a greenfield steel plant in an area of 3,000 acres to produce high-end steel for automobile industries at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore. The land proposed to be given to POSCO would have become the equity of RINL in the joint venture if the proposal materialised.
RINL had a debt liability of Rs19,592 crore in 2018-19. It is increasing due to heavy loan liability. The company took loans for expansion of the plant by paying hefty interest. The sluggish market condition, high cost of raw material for want of captive iron ore mines and the fallout of Covid-19 pandemic have cast a heavy burden on RINL. RINL, in which Government of India has 100 per cent shareholding, will be privatised along with its joint ventures and subsidiaries, according to recent statements issued by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
"Sale of land will be counter-productive. We want the Centre to explore other options to put RINL back on right track," said AITUC general secretary D. Adinarayana.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, recently during his Delhi visit, requested the Government of India to reconsider its decision to privatise RINL, which has been profitable for the past few months. He reiterated that non-availability of captive iron ore mines had forced RINL to bear an excess cost of iron ore - an implication of over Rs 3,472 crore for the plant.
Reddy said the loan burden could be reduced by capital restructuring, exploring stock options, monetising surplus lands and changing duration of loans and slashing interest rate.
About 20,000 people are employed in VSP and thousands more have been provided livelihood through indirect employment. Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, considered 'Pride of Andhra' was established after 'Visakha Ukku, Andhrula Hakku' agitation which claimed lives of 32 protesters in police firings.
