RINL unions urge parliamentary panel to consider merger with SAIL

Visakhapatnam: Trade unions affiliated to several organisations on Tuesday appealed to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce to recommend the Government of India to consider the merger of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, with SAIL.

They said even after the revival package, the financial health of RINL is weakening due to several factors. In a representation to committee Chairperson Dola Sen here, Mantri Rajasekhar and Neerukonda Ramachandra Rao (INTUC), D. Adinarayana, J Ramakrishna (AITUC), J Ayodharam (CITU) and others, pointed out that merger is the only viable alternative to retain RINL in the public sector. "We gratefully acknowledge the Central Government;s announcement of a revival package of Rs11,440 crore along with Rs2,800 crore support from the Government of Andhra Pradesh. It was widely expected that the assistance would enable the plant to operate at full capacity and return to sustained profitability," the representation stated. However, contrary to these expectations, several recent policy and operational decisions appear to be systematically weakening the plant, creating an artificial situation of losses and instability.

The union leaders observed that the total equity investment made by the Government of India in VSP is only Rs4,889 crore. In contrast, the plant has contributed more than Rs58,000 crore to the Central and State Governments in the form of dividends and taxes since its inception. They stated that subsequent to the disinvestment decision RINL-VSP incurred losses of Rs2,859 crore, Rs4,849 crore and Rs1,389 crore during the financial years 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 respectively.These losses were primarily due to non-supply of raw materials, non-allocation of railway rakes, non-release of adequate working capital and procurement of coal at exorbitant international prices. In 2025 alone, losses touched Rs5,032 crore and later reduced to Rs1,389 crore owing to revival package payments.Thus, within a span of three years, cumulative losses amounted to Rs12,840 crore. Additionally, 45-day production stoppage due to non-cooperation by GangavaramPort resulted in an estimated loss of nearly Rs7,000 crore. The union leaders urged the committee chairperson and its members to take up their demand for the RINL-SAIL merger as 'most viable and sustainable' option to help achieve the 300 million steel production target by 2030.