Even as the Narendra Modi government is hell bent on privatising the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), also known as Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), on the ground that it has been running in losses, the workers of the company have brought the company back into profits.
According to RINL chairman and managing director P K Rath, the company has earned a huge net profit of Rs 740 crore in the last four months, which is a record in the history of the steel plant since its inception.
The company made a net profit of Rs 212 crore in December 2020, Rs 134 crore in January this year and Rs 165 crore in February and the remaining in March.
“This is for the first time that the company has made such huge profits,” the official said.
The company has achieved a turnover of Rs 18,000 crore during 2020-21, which is the second highest turnover since its formation.
The steel plant recorded a growth rate of 13 per cent. In March alone, it sold 7.11 lakh tonnes of steel at a cost of Rs 3,300 crore, which is the best record so far,” Rath said.
On March 23, there was a record production of 20,400 tonnes of hot metal in the steel plant. It has been running with full capacity for the last four months achieving nearly 98 per cent productivity in the company.
“The workers wanted to prove to the Centre that if given an opportunity, they could completely turn around the company’s financial position and bring it back into profits,” a trade union leader said.