RINL tenders trigger fresh privatisation fears among VSP employees
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity behind the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, issued nearly 20 tenders earlier this month. This has ignited fears among employees that it’s a prelude to privatization, despite repeated assurances—including from Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu—that the plant will remain public.
J. Ayodhya Ramu, convenor of the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee, flagged the most alarming tender: a Rs 132-crore contract for operating and maintaining Steel Melting Shop-1 (SMS-1). The unit employs 690 workers—460 permanent and 230 contract staff from 15 agencies—whose futures now hang in the balance. “With the plant logging a Rs 284-crore loss in November 2025, this outsourcing timing screams suspicion,” Ramu stated.
The contract covers full technical operations and maintenance of six continuous-casting machines, capable of 3.6 million tonnes of steel blooms annually—about 9,863 tonnes daily. Staff argue it marks a stealthy push toward privatization, amplifying worries that surged after the plant’s revival package.
Heightening tensions, roughly 3,000 regular employees face retirement by 2027, leaving the current permanent workforce at around 9,400. No new recruitment has happened in nearly six years, Ramu pointed out.
The committee will hold a dharna outside the plant’s administrative building on December 15, ready to escalate if past protests yield no results. “Earlier actions fell flat; we’ll now amplify our fight,” Ramu warned.
The question lingers: Will the government stand by its promise to keep Visakhapatnam Steel public, or greenlight unchecked outsourcing?