The rain gods have played havoc with unlisted Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) and its listed subsidiary Orissa Minerals Development Co Ltd (OMDC).
A.P. Choudhary, CMD, RINL, told Business Line that excessive rain in the past few days has caused serious problems in Vizag Steel Plant operations, forcing him to stay away from board meeting of OMDC, scheduled for Monday. OMDC informed the BSE that the board meeting, to be held on September 3, was postponed “due to some unavoidable circumstances”.
Apart from the issue of bonus shares, the board was to consider the proposed merger, with itself, of Bisra Stone Lime Co Ltd, another mining subsidiary of RINL. OMDC, a step-down mining subsidiary of RINL, has iron-ore and manganese mines in Odisha. Choudhary, who is Chairman of OMDC too, was completely preoccupied with the boiler shutdown and severe power crisis at VSP. “Coal handling in torrential rain created a crisis of sorts. To add to the woes, VSP could not draw much from the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity board, which was also reeling under shortage,” sources said.
VSP is currently running its 247 MW captive power plant at 63 per cent capacity. “Things are being sorted out on a war footing”, a RINL senior official said.