Regular and contract employees of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate body of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), along with trade union leaders took out a rally towards Adani Gangavaram Port Limited (AGPL), here on Wednesday, demanding release of coking coal. The coal has been stocked at the port since April 12.
Over 1,000 employees including RINL Chief General Manager (HR) G. Gandhi, walked from Balacheruvu Gate of Vizag Steel Plant and interacted with the agitated workers of AGPL.
“As the plant is in a critical condition, we humbly appealed to the agitated workers to allow RINL’s coking coal to be transferred from Gangavaram port to the steel plant,” Mr. Gandhi said.
RINL CMD Atul Bhatt also wrote a letter to Visakhapatnam Collector A. Mallikarjuna on Wednesday asking him to intervene immediately and save the plant. He added that the company was in a critical stage. He asked the Collector to provide necessary police security for transportation of coal from the port to the plant.
“The Andhra Pradesh High court also ordered to transport the coal from the AGPL to RINL through conveyor belt system or any other immediate mode of transport to save the RINL. But, AGPL remains non-committal,” Mr. Bhatt said in the letter to the Collector.