The Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), is currently riddled with financial troubles, and amidst them significant demands are being made for a strategic merger. The Steel Executives Federation of India (SEFI) and Visakhapatnam Steel Executives Association (VSEA) are urging the Union Ministry of Steel to consider the merger of VSP with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
Recently, SEFI representatives met with Union Minister of Steel H D Kumaraswamy to present the merger proposal. Concurrently, VSEA members discussed the matter with Ministry of Steel Joint Secretary Vinod Kumar Tripathi.
In addition to these efforts for the VSP-SAIL merger by SEA, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM Visakhapatnam’s district committee has called for the immediate cessation of plans to sell VSP’s lands and assets, valued at around Rs 500 crore, in major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. CPM district secretary M Jaggu Naidu stated that selling these assets would severely impact the steel plant’s business and development. He argued that this move would accelerate the proposed privatization process of the steel plant.
“The sale of guest houses, marketing offices, buildings, and yards in key cities is a deliberate attempt to weaken VSP,” Naidu said. “The company is already causing hardship for its employees, permanent workers, and contract workers by failing to pay their salaries and contractor bills on time. Selling off assets only further weakens the steel plant. The CPM demands that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre immediately halt the sale of these assets.”
Naidu also emphasized that positive steps by the Centre, such as providing working capital and arranging loan facilities through banks, could steer the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant back to profitability. He highlighted VSP’s role in providing employment to one lakh people and generating substantial revenue in taxes and dividends for both the Union and state governments, stressing its importance as a developing public sector entity.
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