It is reported that Visakhapatnam district unit of the CPI (M) has severely criticized the management of the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant for the cost and time overrun in the implementation of project to expand the capacity of the plant from 3 million tonnes to 6.3 million tonnes.

Ch Narasinga Rao district president at a press meet said that that there was inordinate delay in the execution of many expansion works and the cost had escalated to well over INR 12,000 crore from the original estimated INR 8,600 crore. He said it would take at least one year more to finish the steel melting shop and sinter plant number three.

The management was not in a position to commission the blast furnace number three, though the works had been completed. Above all, he alleged, the work on the captive thermal plant had started late and it would take at least 18 months to complete it. Therefore, even after the completion of expansion project works, RINL would be in a position to buy power from external sources. It would prove costly.

He accused the RINL management of executing the expansion works in a very haphazard manner and that had resulted in the delay as well as the cost escalation. He also blamed the RINL management for its faulty marketing system. 600,000 tonnes of steel was piled up in August in the RINL stockyards and in September 360,000 tonnes of steel was sold in a hurry, reducing the price by INR 5,000 a tonne in comparison with April prices. He said the steel plant management was not willing to give a concession of even INR 500 a tonne to the small-scale industries in the vicinity of Vizag, but was offering INR 5,000 a tonne to the dealers.

He said that lack of captive iron ore mines would prove very costly to the RINL after the completion of the expansion project, he said. The plant may be pushed into the red once again. He criticised the ruling Congress party leaders for not being able to secure captive iron ore mines to the steel plant.

(Sourced from BL)