RINL faces production woes as coking coal standoff at Adani Port drags on

Visakhapatnam: Even after such a long wait, there is no respite for the management of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in tiding over the coking coal crisis faced following indefinite protest by the workers of Adani Gangavaram Port Private Limited (AGPPL).

The talks to resolve the impasse has hit a roadblock following the district officials, who initiated a dialogue with the workers and members of displaced families sometime ago, getting themselves busy with the nomination process beginning on April 19.

Though there were promises to solve the problem by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu to mitigate the suffering of the steel plant management and help restore normalcy, nothing positive yielded till Thursday evening.

An estimated 2.2 lakh coking coal, which was unloaded and kept at the stackyard of the port located in the backyard of a steel plant, has not been able to be put in the conveyor belt. This would have given a big reprieve to the management. Two ships which brought imported coal were diverted to Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) sometime ago with a total coking coal of 1.5 lakh tonne is being supplied to the plant on average a rake a day by the Railways. Rakes from SAIL have also been requisitioned.

The end-result is to operate only one among three blast furnaces. "The throttled production is causing a heavy loss to the company, which is already faced with several other challenges," a senior RINL official said. RINL has been experiencing tense moments ever since operations at Gangavaram Port came to a standstill on April 12. The interruption has severely impacted RINL's ability to access essential raw materials, including coking coal and limestone, which are indispensable for our production processes.

To avoid leakage of hazardous chemicals and gases, all five coke oven batteries are being operated at bare minimum capacity."The way the crisis is handled gives an impression that the powers-that-be are keen on selling RINL lock, stock and barrel to Adani or Ambani or some other corporates after the elections," INTUC leader Mantri Rajasekhar, said.

VSP, India's first shore-based integrated steel plant has an annual production capacity of 7.3 million tonnes. The adverse market conditions and severe working capital and raw material problem notwithstanding, VSP clocked a turnover of Rs 23,129 crore during 2023-24. To raise funds to reduce debt liabilities, which were put at around Rs 20,000 crore, RINL entered into MoU with Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) to re-start one of the three blast furnaces and procure raw materials through Letter of Credit following an understanding with Tata International. Land monetisation to a limited extent has also been launched by auctioning plots at HB Colony and two other locations.

In a recent appeal, Atul Bhatt, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of RINL, appealed to all the stakeholders to extend their support during the current crisis and said the company stands as a beacon of industrial prowess and national pride, with its significant contributions resonating across the landscape of the nation's development.

As a key player in the steel industry, RINL is contributing immensely to the nation-building process by supplying high-quality steel for various infrastructural projects, from bridges to railways, highways to high-rise buildings. Its relentless commitment to excellence and innovation has not only fueled the growth of India's industrial sector but has also bolstered our nation's economic resilience on the global stage.

He said, "RINL has touched the lives of countless people, offering them opportunities for livelihood and prosperity. Its unwavering dedication to the well-being of the communities it serves has made RINL an integral part of the fabric of Andhra Pradesh's growth story, inspiring hope and resilience in the face of challenges."