Vijayawada: Expressing satisfaction over the increase in capacity utilisation of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) from 25% to 79% in the last 12 months, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu set a target of 92.5% capacity utilisation by the end of the third quarter of FY 2025-26. Naidu called for the collective efforts of stakeholders in improving the performance of RINL, which is famously known as Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.The chief minister on Monday reviewed the performance of RINL along with chief secretary K Vijayanand, RINL CMD Ajit Kumar Saxena, ministry of steel joint secretary Abhijit Narendra, and director GVN Prasad. He said that the state govt is committed to strengthening the steel plant and is ready to extend full cooperation for its revival. He attributed the progress achieved in the past year to the collective efforts of Central and state govts.Though the Union govt proposed a stake sale in RINL, following the request made by Naidu, the proposal was withdrawn, and the Union govt agreed to give Rs 11,440 crore by way of equity infusion. A major portion of these funds have already been released and is currently being used to bring the plant back on track. Naidu said that the state govt is ready to give full cooperation to restore the past glory of RINL. He stated that the performance and progress of the plant will be reviewed every three months. Additionally, he directed that a monthly review should be conducted at the chief secretary’s level.
