T’gana CM Revanth to unveil ‘Vizag declaration’ to retain RINL as CPSE
CM Revanth Reddy, along with other political leaders, will also demand the granting of captive mines to reduce RINL’s production costs at the March 16 rally
Congress’ RINL Pledge
• Another pledge includes granting Special Category Status to AP
• Unions have been protesting for over three years against the proposed privatisation
• RINL’s expansion efforts have led to a significant debt burden
• RINL’s potential merger announcement with SAIL speculated at BJP’s rally
Visakhapatnam: In a bid to make an impact ahead of general elections, the INDIA block led by Congress will announce ‘Visakhapatnam Declaration’ to not privatise Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) at a rally to be addressed by Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy here on March 16.
Reddy, during his maiden visit to Andhra Pradesh after dislodging the KCR-led BRS government, will address a rally here at Trishna Grounds in the steel plant township along with APCC president YS Sharmila, former Union Ministers JD Seelam, MM Pallam Raju, Chinta Mohan and others on their promise to retain RINL as a Central Public Sector Enterprise.
He is also expected to promise granting of captive mines to drastically reduce the production cost of rebars and other products being rolled out from RINL - the corporation entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
Another promise, trade union leaders of RINL, say will be granting of Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, a promise made by the erstwhile UPA-II government when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister at the time of general elections in 2014.
RINL unions are on a peaceful protest mode for over three years since the in-principle nod from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in January, 2021 for strategic disinvestment of RINL, its joint ventures and subsidiaries by way of 100 per cent privatisation. The company spent nearly Rs 16,300 crore on expanding capacity from 3 million tonnes to 7.3 million tonnes. Huge capital expenditure has led to increasing debt burden with dependence on sourcing raw material from NMDC and others unlike major steelmakers like TISCO, SAIL and JSW.
The company as part of monetisation, has signed MoU with Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) for re-starting Blast Furnace-3, sell its forged wheel plant at Rae Bareli, sell away around 13 acres at HB Colony and two other areas and give 1150 acres on lease so as to mop up around Rs 4,000 crore to meet its working capital requirement.
Congress Working Committee (CWC) special invitee Gidugu Rudra Raju told Bizz Buzz that on the invitation of Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Samiti, they have decided to hold their meeting at Krishna Grounds.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan are scheduled to take part in the first joint rally of the newly formed alliance at Chilakaluripet in Palnadu district on March 17. The unions also hope that due to BJP’s high stake contest from a record number of six Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats as part of a tripartite alliance, the Prime Minister might announce merger of RINL with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). “Merger is a mutually beneficial option,” a senior executive of RINL, told Bizz Buzz.
“We have nothing to do with politics and our main aim is to drum up support to prevent privatisation of RINL,” Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Samiti chairman J Ayodharam said.
