Union Minister Kumaraswamy Declared No Move To privatize Visakha Steel Plant

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Clearing all fears over the fate of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, the Union Steel and Mines Minister HD Kumaraswamy has once again made it clear that the Plant, which was established with the slogan of Visakhapatnam Steel – Andhras’ Right, will not be privatized under any circumstances.

He revealed that they are moving forward with the aim of reviving the plant. Minister Kumaraswamy, who recently came to Visakhapatnam for the first time after the Centre announced a package for Visakhapatnam Steel, was welcomed by MPs and MLAs along with another minister Srinivasa Verma. A rally was held from the airport on this occasion.

Later, the two ministers and MPs visited the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. A meeting was held with the concerned officials, workers and employees for more than four hours and a long discussion was held on the issues of efficient operation of the plant with the package.

Minister Kumaraswamy speaking to the media explained that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set a target for the Visakhapatnam plant to achieve 300 million tonnes of steel production by 2030.  He said that when they came to power, they provided financial assistance in two tranches to save the plant, which had a debt of Rs 35,000 crore.

He reminded that about 30 people lost their lives for the construction of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and the steel factory had good production initially and was performing well until 2013-14. However, he deplored that it had been in losses since it was decided to increase steel production after achieving Navratna status in 2014.

After visiting the plant in July, he said that the plant was not being privatized and that they were committed to the promise that they would take steps to revive it. “We started the blast furnace with the funds released in the first and second tranches, and with this, the employees and workers worked efficiently, so the Center gave another package of Rs. 11,440 crore”, he added.

Kumaraswamy said that he visited the steel plant on Thursday to see how the funds given were spent and to take it forward. He said that steps will be taken to start the third blast furnace in June and July. Stating that India is currently in second place in world steel production, the Union Minister explained that the problems of the workers in the Visakhapatnam steel factory will be resolved within 3 months.

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