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Privatisation of vizag plant: Protests grow as Centre sticks to plan
Hyderabad : Massive protests erupted again in the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) in Visakhapatnam, also known as Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), following a statement by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha on Monday that the Centre would go ahead with the privatisation of the steel plant
Hyderabad : Massive protests erupted again in the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) in Visakhapatnam, also known as Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), following a statement by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha on Monday that the Centre would go ahead with the privatisation of the steel plant.
Following a call given by the Joint Action Committee of trade unions of the steel plant, thousands of workers took to the streets on Monday night and blocked the traffic on the Visakhapatnam-Kolkata national highway (NH-16) till midnight, raising slogans against the Centre for taking a unilateral decision to privatise the steel plant. RINL made a loss of ₹3,910 crore in 2019-20, as per the latest data available. The plant, which makes steel products used primarily in the construction sector employs around 17,000 permanent and 14,000 contractual employees.
Later, the workers observed a sit-in protest near the steel plant’s gate at Kurmannapalem through the night. On Tuesday morning, the protestors laid siege to the administrative block of RINL and refused to allow senior officials to enter the premises.
They gheraoed Varanasi Venkata Venugopal Rao, director (finance) of RINL Visakhapatnam, held him captive for nearly six hours, and refused to allow him enter the office. They let him go at around 3 pm after the police intervened and the trade union leaders, who held talks with the top management, assured the workers that their demands would be taken up.
“We shall intensify our agitation. There is no question of allowing the steel plant to be sold out to the private parties at a throw-away price. It is a question of do-or-die battle for the workers,” said J Ayodhya Ramu, president of Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the recognised union of the RINL.
On Monday, the Union finance minister, replying to questions raised by Visakhapatnam MP M V V Satyanarayana and Araku MP Goddeti Madhavi, asserted that the Centre would go in for 100% disinvestment of Government of India’s shares in Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP). The Centre would also withdraw RINL’s stakes in other joint ventures through strategic disinvestment.
“While deciding conditions for strategic sale of RINL, concerns of employees and other stakeholders will be suitably addressed through share purchase agreement,’’ she said.
Sitharaman also said the Andhra Pradesh government did not have any equity in the RINL, but the Centre was consulting the state government in specific matters as and when needed and would solicit its support in the matters that required its intervention.
The privatisation of RINL is part of the government’s effort to divest in stake in state-owned companies. The government hopes to raise ₹1.75 lakh crore from its divestment programme in 2021-22 according to the Union Budget.
As the agitation by the steel plant workers began to intensify and with the elections to the Greater Viskahapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) scheduled to be held on Wednesday, the YSR Congress Party government led by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy quickly began a damage control exercise. On Tuesday morning, the chief minister dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing grave concern over Sitharaman’s statement in the Lok Sabha.
He sought an appointment with the Prime Minister at the earliest, so that he would explain the situation on ground and discuss the alternatives to revive RINL.
Jagan also offered to lead an all-party delegation and also take along trade union representatives to Delhi to discuss the issue with the Centre.
He said the steel plant would definitely turn profitable, given some support from the Centre by implementing some turnaround measures such as allotting captive iron ore mines to bring down input costs, swapping high-cost debt with low-cost debt, converting debt into equity through equity conversion, and monetization of vacant land.
“We, together, can revive the plant for unlocking greater value to the society and in particular to the people of Andhra Pradesh,” Jagan wrote in his letter.
