The Union Government has accorded approval for extending 'navaratna' status to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (Visakhapatnam Steel Plant) here for a year i.e. till November 2013. The company's performance, investment of huge amounts in expansion and plant modernisation and completion of all formalities for an IPO were considered by the Government in taking the step.
Chairman and Managing Director A.P. Choudhary thanked the Union Ministry of Steel and the Government for extending 'navaratna' status to RINL. He said RINL had always been in the forefront in fulfilling its commitments to the Government and other stakeholders. On the marketing scenario, he said sales of long steel products had shown signs of recovery and demand was expected to register a sharp improvement considering the dry season and growth in infrastructure work. International prices of scrap, finished products and all steel-related items had risen considerably fuelling growth in demand, he said. RINL had drawn up a strategy to reorient its product mix in line with the requirements of the steel market.
T.K. Chand, Director (Commercial), said RINL was the single largest exporter of pig iron in India and even in the domestic market RINL was likely to make record sales of pig iron, by-products and steel products given the positive sentiment in the market and the stepped-up delivery and customer services, he added.
The CMD said more employment would be generated for the local people as the management was looking at investing more capital in the plant here. The RINL was also discharging its duty as a good corporate citizen by taking up various schemes under the head of corporate social responsibility.