Third Blast Furnace to Resume Operations at VSP

Visakhapatnam: The third blast furnace of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) is likely to resume operations by the end of this month.

Currently, two furnaces are operating, producing five million tonnes of steel per annum. The third blast furnace will produce another two and a half million tons of steel, taking the total to 7.5 million tonnes per annum.

Union minister of state for Heavy Industries Bhupatiraju Srinivas Varma, in his post in X said, “This is another milestone in the revival of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. With resumption of the third blast furnace, the plant will assume full capacity in production. The efforts made for revival with the cooperation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and under the leadership of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has shown results.’’

In January this year, the union government cleared ₹11,500 crore package to revive the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, potentially infusing a new lease of life into the loss-making facility.

The plant faces severe financial strain due to working capital debts, insufficient raw materials, court attachments and insolvency proceedings.

The management of RINL should ensure sufficient raw material to run the blast furnace for at least six months without a break. Earlier, due to interruption of raw material supply, the furnace had been shut down, said CITU leader Ayodhya Ramu, who is also leading the agitation against the privatisation of the steel plant.

“We also request the management to take back 1.000 contract workers who have been removed recently. There has to be sufficient manpower to run all the three furnaces,’’ Ayodhya Ramu pointed out.