The Narendra Modi government's plans to privatise the Vizag Steel Plant – a major icon of Visakhapatnam in north coastal Andhra Pradesh – has sparked massive protests in the city on Friday.
The plant is spread over 22,000 acres, with a production capacity of 7.3 million tonne per annum (MTPA). It is a Navratna Public Sector Enterprise, operating under the Ministry of Steel. Visakhapatnam is popularly known as “steel city,” because of the plant.
Employees and trade unions, supported by political parties in the state except the BJP, have come together in their demand to the Centre to withdraw its decision to disinvest the government share in VSP.
The unions have been warding off the Centre's disinvestment proposals for some years now.
On Wednesday, secretary of the department of investment and public asset management, functioning under the union finance ministry, tweeted, “Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has, on 27th Jan 2021, given in principle approval for 100 per cent strategic disinvestment of GoI shareholding in RINL along with management control by way of privatization.”
On Friday, a large bike rally was taken out from the plant on the outskirts to the Gandhi statue in the heart of the city, in protest.
Vizag steel plant (VSP), run by its corporate entity named Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, is the first shore-based integrated steel plant in the country.
VSP employs about 15,000 permanent and 20,000 contract workers and provides indirect livelihood to over 65,000 people. The plant thus supports one lakh jobs and about five lakh people – about a quarter of Vizag city population, unions say.
VSP foundation was laid in 1977 by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, after a prolonged agitation in the seventies, when people rallied with a popular slogan “Visakha ukku-Andhrula hakku” (Vizag Steel is Andhra's right). The agitation has reportedly claimed over 30 lives.
The plant was commissioned in 1992.
However, the main drawback and the reason for the losses reported of RINL-Vizag Steel, over the years, is the lack of captive iron ore mines.
“We are forced to buy the ore from NMDC, which shoots up our production costs. Forget losses, VSP would show massive profits if we are allocated captive mines,” says VVGS Durga Prasad, a senior employee.
The unions have been agitating for allocation of captive mines over the last few years. The demand is now being echoed by the political parties.
“Vizag Steel is the representation of the Telugu self-respect. The ruling YSRCP, with 28 MPs, has failed to protect the state people's interest,” alleged TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh, while demanding Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy to move a resolution in the state Assembly and acquire the plant.
TDP's local legislators are supporting the agitation, some of them threatening to resign.