Visakhapatnam: The Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee has urged Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan and YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to pressure the Centre to allocate captive mines to the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and merge RINL with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
Speaking at a press conference in Visakhapatnam, Intellectuals Forum founder-president Chalasani Srinivas said the lack of captive mines was adding nearly Rs 6,400 to the cost of producing each tonne of steel. He said a merger with SAIL, which has captive mining resources, could significantly reduce the production burden.
The committee also expressed concern over the removal of contract workers and increased workloads. Representatives alleged that the Centre’s Rs 11,400 crore allocation was largely being used for bank payments instead of machinery repairs, plant development and workers’ welfare, and urged immediate government intervention.