CITU Opposes Privatisation of Vizag Steel Plant, Calls for Intensified Struggle

Visakhapatnam: The 18th National Conference of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has strongly opposed the Central government’s decision to privatise Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), popularly known as the Vizag Steel Plant, and resolved to intensify the struggle to protect the public sector steel major.

Adopting a resolution at the conference, CITU recalled that Vizag Steel Plant was the outcome of a historic mass movement in Andhra Pradesh, in which 32 people sacrificed their lives demanding a steel plant for the state. Established in 1982, the plant symbolised people’s struggle and the pursuit of national self-reliance. Despite persistent delays in fund release by successive Central governments, which forced RINL to rely heavily on borrowings during its commissioning phase in the early 1990s, the plant commenced production and became a symbol of popular assertion under the slogan “Visakha Ukku – Andhrula Hakku”.

The resolution noted that spread over nearly 22,000 acres and located on the eastern coast with proximity to international shipping routes, Vizag Steel Plant was envisioned as a strategic public sector asset. Steel being one of the country’s core industries, the plant plays a crucial role in infrastructure, defence, railways, shipbuilding, energy and manufacturing, with its coastal location adding to its long-term strategic and economic value.

Countering claims that public sector enterprises are inefficient, CITU said RINL had proved its viability by earning profits and repaying all its loans by 2004. The government had approved expansion from 3.4 million tonnes to 6.3 million tonnes, with plans to reach 7.3 million tonnes, acknowledging the plant’s potential. By March 2025, Vizag Steel Plant had contributed over 57,789 crore to the Central and State exchequers through taxes and dividends, besides generating large-scale employment.

According to the resolution, the present financial stress faced by RINL is the result of deliberate policy discrimination rather than workers’ inefficiency. Unlike other steel producers, the plant was denied captive iron ore mines, forcing it to procure raw material at significantly higher costs. Repeated demands for captive mines were ignored, leading to sustained struggles by workers, including mass protests and long marches.

CITU strongly criticised the Central government’s decision of January 2021 to proceed with a strategic sale of RINL without consulting Parliament, State governments, workers or the public. The decision, it said, triggered widespread resistance across Andhra Pradesh, uniting various sections of society.

The resolution also highlighted the severe distress faced by workers, pointing to large-scale workforce reduction, forced voluntary retirement schemes, denial of wage revision and the removal of thousands of contract workers without due process. It warned that moves to outsource core shop-floor operations amounted to backdoor privatisation.

Reaffirming that steel is a strategic sector, the conference resolved to oppose privatisation of RINL in any form, demanded allocation of captive iron ore mines, condemned retrenchment and wage suppression, and asserted that Vizag Steel Plant must remain in public ownership, accountable to the people and Parliament.