The Neelachal Executives’ Association (NEA) has urged for resumption of production in the ailing Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) claiming that the plant is capable of achieving more than 100%-capacity utilisation.
NEA president Avijit Koley and general secretary Ajit Pradhan have written to MMTC CMD Sudhanshu Pandey pleading for his intervention in saving the NINL.
Notably, the MMTC is the major shareholder of the NINL, which is at present in dire straits.
The NEA has demanded sufficient infusion of funds for day-to-day operation of the NINL as all the production units of the steelmaking firm have been shut down.
The NEA has said that discontinuation of production has thrown future of the employees and workforces into darkness and contractual workers are losing their jobs. While salary payments of employees and executives have been delayed and irregular, this is a cause of worry.
The NEA has requested the MMTC to impress upon the Union Government for transfer of shares of NINL held by the MMTC to other PSUs like SAIL or RINL. It would be a transfer of shares between two Government entities; and as the NINL is having a rich iron ore deposit, it would justify the transfer as SAIL and RINL require the raw material.
The NINL is having a captive iron ore mine; and it would cater to the requirement of the plant, which can be scaled up to 10 million tonnes per annum.
With the NINL shares transferred to SAIL and RINL, it would allow more investment in future modernisation and expansion plans.
As the Ministry of Steel is setting up a steel hub in Kalinganagar, it would be in synergy with the policy of the Union Government. While the SAIL has set a capacity expansion target of 50 MTPA by 2031 and RINL expansion target of 16 MTPA by 2031, both of the steel PSUs need not go for land acquisition for capacity expansion.
The NINL has 2,500 acres of undisputed land, which is sufficient for a 10-MTPA expansion.
The NINL’s merger with SAIL or RINL would be a step towards the Union Government’s objective of a single public-sector-owned steelmaker to bring efficiency, productivity, profitability, faster investment decision, get cheaper funds for expansion and reducing dependency on Government, said sources.
Over 10,000 people are depending on the NINL directly and indirectly and they pin a lot of hopes on the firm, which has a huge potential.