700 RINL employees opt for VRS in third phase of downsizing
As many as 2,100 employees have availed the golden handshake scheme in the last two rounds
700 RINL employees opt for VRS in third phase of downsizing
Visakhapatnam: The number of applicants in the third round of Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) introduced by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) swelled from 500 to 700 following extension of the last date from January 20 to 27.
RINL, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant with an annual production capacity of 7.3 million tonnes was under the threat of imminent closure a year ago, following which the Centre and the State Government came to its rescue with a bailout package.
While the Centre unveiled a revival plan by injecting Rs11,440 crore, the State Government converted power and water tariff dues amounting to nearly Rs2,400 crore into preferential shares.
As many as 2,100 employees have availed the golden handshake scheme in the last two rounds. Though in the third round the target was to prune the staff size by 1,000, the company received just 500 applications when the original last date came to an end.
Despite increase in work pressure with an undeclared ban on filling vacant posts and promoting employees as per previous agreements, the workforce has been reduced from 18,000 permanent employees when the production capacity was 3 million tonnes to 9,200. Even though the capacity was enhanced to 7.3 million tonnes with phase-wise investment of an estimated Rs16,300 crore, the size of contract workers has also been reduced from 16,000 to 8,500, the union leaders alleged.
After privatising Raw Material Handling Plant (RMHP), sinter plant and coke oven batteries now tendering process is on handover maintenance of critical facilities like blast furnaces, steel melt shops and rolling mills, Neerukonda Ramachandra Rao, Chief Patron of Visakha Steel Employees' Congress (VSEC), told Bizz Buzz on Friday.
He said allotment of captive mines or merger with SAIL is the only way out to put RINL back on the right track.
Stating that at present the steel plant is producing at the maximum capacity, he said the financial health is still deplorable.
Ramachandra Rao said as on December 31, 2025, RINL recorded an estimated cash loss of Rs800 crore and net loss of Rs1,700 crore.
To wriggle it out of crisis and to put an end to privatisation fear, it is better to allot captive mines to reduce drastically the production cost or consider merger with SAIL as a permanent solution, J Ayodharam, CITU leader said.
