Trade unions and employees expressed their happiness with the resumption of Blast Furnace-3, hoping that the plant would reach its full production of 7.3 tons: Reports
VISAKHAPATNAM: The third blast furnace, Annapurna, of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant resumed operations on Friday afternoon. Joint secretary in the ministry of steel Daya Nidhan Pandey was present on the occasion. The plant was blown in by senior technician KL Praveen and assistant manager B. Venkatesh, official sources said through social media X.
All three blast furnaces produce 21,000 tons of steel per day, taking the total turnover to 7.3 million tons. Blast Furnace-3 Annapurna was shut down on September 12 last year due to lack of coal and iron ore. Last year Blast Furnace -1 Godavari was shut down on May 14 and resumed operations on October 28. The steel plant operated only the Krishna blast furnace, which produced 2.5 million tons of steel per day.
Trade unions and employees expressed their happiness with the resumption of Blast Furnace-3, hoping that the plant would reach its full production of 7.3 tons.
The steel plant has already begun making operational profits, said CITU leader Ayodhya Ramu, who also represents the struggle committee against the privatisation of the steel plant.
“RINL, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, made a profit of `18 crore in March this year, `72 crore in April and `54 crore in May, though 4,000 contract workers were removed,” Ayodhya Ramu said to this correspondent.
He said the government will also earn revenue through 18 per cent GST. He added that the full and regular production would regulate the markets which have been fluctuating due to uncertainty in Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
