RINL Announces Third Phase of Voluntary Retirement Scheme

 Visakhapatnam: The management of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), which operates the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, has issued a notification announcing the third phase of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS).

The notification, issued on December 24, said the scheme is a revised version of the first phase notified on January 14 this year and the second phase issued on June 14. Applications will be accepted online from January 1 to January 20, 2026. Applications submitted after the cut-off date will not be considered. Employees may withdraw their applications online until January 23, after which withdrawal will not be permitted.

Employees who have completed a minimum of 15 years of service in RINL and attained 45 years of age are eligible to apply. Eligibility will be reckoned as on the date of submission of the application. As per the guidelines, about 4,000 employees out of a total eligible strength of 12,300 qualify for the scheme.

The VRS aims to rationalise manpower, optimise human resource utilisation, reduce costs and improve productivity, the notification said.

In the first phase, 1,126 employees opted for VRS, while 487 exited in the second phase. Trade union leaders said that in the second phase, only about 50 per cent of employees received the full VRS compensation, though statutory benefits were paid to all.

At present, the steel plant has 9,385 permanent employees and around 8,400 contract workers. Sources said about Rs 506 crore was allocated for VRS compensation in the first phase.

Senior trade union leader Ayodhya Ramu said nearly 7,000 employees had left RINL after the Centre announced the disinvestment decision in January 2021. At that time, the plant recorded a turnover of about Rs 28,000 crore and an operating profit of Rs 940 crore.