Centre Briefs Naidu On Strengthening VSP

Amaravati: After announcing a revival package for Rs14,440 crore for revival of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corproate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, a high-level team from the Government of India has briefed Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on the action plan being prepared to bail out the cash-strapped public sector unit headquartered in Visakhapatnam.

The action plan is being formulated by the Central and State Governments to strengthen the Vizag Steel Plant, whose debt liability has gone up to Rs35,000 crore mainly due to high capex, interest liability and lack of captive iron ore and coal mines entailing a heavy burden on the production cost.

The delegation from the Union Ministry of Steel held discussions with Naidu and other officials at Undavalli. The discussions primarily focused on the developments following the NDA government's approval of a financial package for the Vizag Steel Plant and the necessary measures to be taken. Union Minister of State for Steel Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, who participated in the meeting, expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for the State Government's initiative in providing security to the plant through the Special Protection Force (SPF).

The Chief Minister also discussed key aspects with the delegation, including the regular review of the steel plant’s progress and the reopening of the third blast furnace in addition to the two currently in operation. He emphasized the emotional and economic significance of the Vizag Steel Plant (RINL) to the state and the need to safeguard its future. The Chief Minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central Government for considering the State's request and announcing financial assistance for the plant's revival. He stressed that both the Central and State Governments must work in coordination to restore the steel plant to its former glory. He assured that the State Government would continue providing the necessary support. The Chief Minister also underlined that without reducing operational costs and enhancing efficiency and capacity, the expected results could not be achieved.

The meeting was attended by Steel Ministry Secretary Sandeep Poundrik, Joint Secretary Abhijit Narendra, NMDC CMD Amitava Mukherjee, RINL In-Charge CMD Ajit Kumar Saxena, MECON CMD SK Verma, and MSTC Limited CMD Manobendra Ghosal.