Erstwhile Visakhapatnam poised to be the largest steel manufacturing district in India?

Visakhapatnam poised to become largest steel manufacturing district in India with RINL and AM/NS plants, facing challenges for growth.

If all goes well, the erstwhile, undivided district of Visakhapatnam could become the largest steel manufacturing district in the country in the near future.

The largest integrated and shore-based steel maker, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, a fully-owned public sector unit, is already based in Visakhapatnam city and soon ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Private Limited (AM/NS India), a private entity, is poised to set up one of its largest steel plants in Rajayyapeta, now in Anakapalli district post trifurcation of Visakhapatnam district.

RINL already has the capacity to produce 7.3 million tonnes of steel per annum and AM/NS is ready to set up its 7.3 MTPA unit in the first phase and scale up by another 10.5 MTPA, in the second phase.

Both plants combined, in their full capacity, will be in a position to produce close to 25.10 MPTA, which could be the largest in any district in India — Visakhapatnam district, though, has been split into Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju districts.

Experts from the steel sector and former senior executives of RINL say that RINL has enough land to scale up its production from 7.3 MTPA to 20 MTPA, which could further increase the output and play a key role in India’s target of making 300 MTPA per annum by 2030.

But achieving this distinction, hinges on many things. Primarily, it depends on the political will and the efforts put in by the ruling NDA government both at the State and in the Centre.

RINL is in red for multiple reasons, and the Union Government had already proposed for its 100% strategic sale in January 2021. But stiff resistance from the employees and trade unions played a deterrent role and no buyers had come forward.