ERSTWHILE VISAKHAPATNAM POISED TO BE INDIA'S LARGEST STEEL-PRODUCING DISTRICT

With the Centre's bailout package and other efforts being put in to restore Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to its full production capacity, and ArcelorMittal preparing to set up its unit in Anakapalli district, the potential combined production capacity could be a record 25.10 MPTA, the largest in any district in India, and that their products are complementary is the icing on the cake

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

The largest integrated and shore-based steel maker, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), 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 in Anakapalli district which was earlier a part of the undivided Visakhapatnam district.

While the RINL already has the capacity to produce steel to the tune of 7.3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), the AM/NS is gearing up to establish its 7.3 MTPA unit in the first phase and scale it up by another 10.5 MTPA in the second phase.

Both plants combined, in their full capacity, will be in a position to produce steel close to 25.10 MPTA, and this would give the undivided district of Visakhapatnam, which has been split into Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju districts, the distinction of being the largest steel-producing district in the country.

Meanwhile, 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 achieving India's steel production target of 300 MTPA by 2030.

Many hurdles

However, achieving this feat depends on many things. Primarily, it depends on the political will and the efforts the ruling NDA government put in, 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.