2025 Marks Revival of Vizag Steel Plant After Disinvestment Scare
The situation changed after the NDA government returned to power at the Centre and a coalition government was formed in Andhra Pradesh.
Visakhapatnam: After years of uncertainty, protests and political churn, 2025 emerged as the turnaround year for Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, with a massive revival package from the Centre and record production restoring confidence in the public sector steel major.
The Centre had announced 100 per cent strategic disinvestment of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant on January 16, 2021, triggering widespread protests across Andhra Pradesh. The issue remained contentious for nearly three years, during which the previous YSRC government, led by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, passed a resolution in the Assembly opposing the disinvestment.
Political resistance was intense. The then Bheemili MLA, representing the Visakhapatnam North Assembly constituency, resigned in protest, while Palla Srinivasa Rao, now Gajuwaka MLA and Telugu Desam state president, launched an indefinite hunger strike on February 12, 2021. Police dismantled the protest camp on February 16, shifting Srinivasa Rao to hospital. The then Leader of the Opposition and present Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu visited him and expressed solidarity.
The situation changed after the NDA government returned to power at the Centre and a coalition government was formed in Andhra Pradesh.
On January 16, 2025, the Centre approved a Rs 11,440 crore revival package for RINL, comprising Rs 10,300 crore in equity infusion and conversion of Rs 1,140 crore of working capital loans into preference shares. The package aimed at stabilising the company’s finances, enabling full-scale operations of all three blast furnaces, and ensuring job security for thousands of employees.
Following the revival package, production at the steel plant gathered momentum. The Steel Melting Shops recorded a major milestone on December 24, achieving record daily output.
In a display of coordinated operations and sustained effort, Steel Melting Shop-1 (SMS-1) and Steel Melting Shop-2 (SMS-2) together produced 20,934 tonnes of liquid steel, surpassing the previous record set on January 10, 2021. The achievement was seen as a strong indicator of RINL’s operational recovery and renewed capacity.
Sources said SMS-2 alone set a new single-day peak, producing 11,169 tonnes of liquid steel, eclipsing its earlier records and underlining the plant’s return to full-strength operations.
