SEFI Urges VSP-SAIL Merger, Assures Support for Revival of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant
Visakhapatnam, June 17 (TNT): The Steel Executive Federation of India (SEFI) on Wednesday strongly backed the merger of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), stating that such a move would benefit both organisations and strengthen the domestic steel industry.
A SEFI delegation led by Chairman M.K. Banchhor, Vice-Chairman Ajay Pandey and General Secretary Sanjay Arya visited the steel plant and reviewed operations at key units, including the Coke Oven Department and Steel Melt Shop.
The delegation held discussions with officials of the Coke Oven Department and experts from the Bhilai Steel Plant on issues affecting coke oven operations.
It also visited the SMS-1 Continuous Casting Department, where an accident occurred on June 8, and inspected the Bloom Storage Yard.
Later, the SEFI team met Chief General Manager (Works In-charge) Anindya Ghosh, Director (Operations) Sengupta and Chairman-cum-Managing Director M.N.V.S. Prabhakar and discussed operational, financial and employee-related issues concerning the plant.
Prabhakar said the employees of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant were working sincerely and expressed confidence that the organisation would overcome its present challenges.
Recalling his experience at NMDC’s Nagarnar Steel Plant, he said similar issues had been resolved through collective efforts, enabling the plant to achieve full-scale production and profitability.
The SEFI delegation also met RINL Director (Finance) Vinay Kumar and discussed measures to improve the financial position of the organisation.
Banchhor said the federation would take up the concerns of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant with the Ministry of Steel and extend full support for its revival.
He said SEFI would press for the VSP-SAIL merger through Members of Parliament during the forthcoming Parliament session and seek support from the Centre for the proposal.
The federation urged the management to take a positive approach towards resolving long-pending issues of executives, including promotions, wage revisions and pension matters.
During a meeting with representatives of the Steel Executive Association, the delegation was apprised of various issues affecting executives working at the plant.
SEFI leaders assured that these concerns would be raised with Union Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik.
The federation recalled that it had earlier passed a resolution supporting the merger of VSP with SAIL and had also raised the issue before Parliament.
It also noted that a demonstration in support of the merger was organised at the same venue two years ago.
Expressing optimism over the future of the steel plant, the delegation said fluctuations in the steel industry were cyclical in nature and both SAIL and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant had successfully overcome similar situations in the past.
The SEFI leaders also stressed that there should be no compromise on safety standards and called upon executives to remain vigilant in ensuring workplace safety and preventing corruption.
TNT KM
