New Delhi [India], January 17 : Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday announced that the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a package of Rs 11440 crore for the revival of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) -- the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
"As we all know that RINL has a very special position in the entire steel industry. It is one of those plants which is located on the coast of Andhra Pradesh in Vizag. This is a very important steel company in the overall steel sector of the country," the Union Minister told reporters, as he announced the package for the loss-making state-owned company.
"With this revival package many of the historical legacy problems that RINL used to face will be resolved," he added.
Simultaneously, he apprised reporters that a lot of effort is going to be put into securing the raw material for RINL and the modernisation of the plant.
In this overall package of Rs 11440, fresh equity infusion would be worth Rs 10,300 crore and the conversion of working capital loan into preferred share capital of Rs 1140 crore.
"With this, all the employees of RINL as well as all the people connected with the economic activities of RINL will be immensely benefited and Andhra Pradesh will have a major steel plant revived in the coming days. Very soon RINL will start functioning with two glass furnances and by August it is planned to start all the three glass furnances," the minister said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taking to X, said that the Visakhapatnam steel plant has a special place in the hearts and minds of the people of Andhra Pradesh.
"During yesterday's Cabinet meeting, it was decided to provide equity support of over Rs 10,000 crore for the plant. This has been done understanding the importance of the steel sector in building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat," the prime minister wrote on X.
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), is a Navratna company under the Ministry of Steel.
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant is the first shore-based Integrated Steel Plant in India. It is a producer of long steel products and caters to the requirements of the construction, infrastructure, manufacturing and automobile sectors.
A revival package has been a long-pending demand from the people of Andhra Pradesh and especially the people working within the steel plant, said Union Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu, who himself comes from the state.
"Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, in the last 7 months, after the formation of new government in the state and with the double-engine government whenever he came to Delhi to meet PM, he had been constantly requesting for support in the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant...," Union Minister Naidu added.