The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a big plan worth Rs 11,440 crore to help Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) recover. This plan includes putting in Rs 10,300 crore as new funds to bring the company back on track. The Union Steel Minister, H D Kumaraswamy, explained that there are also plans to combine KIOCL with NMDC in the future, and a decision about merging RINL with Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) will be made later.
RINL aims to reach a steel production of 14,000 metric tonnes by January and hopes to use 92.3% of its total production capacity soon. It can produce about 7.3 million tonnes of steel each year when fully running. Two of RINL’s blast furnaces will start working in January, and another one is set to begin by August 2025.
The money coming in also includes changing Rs 1,140 crore of a working loan into a special share that can be redeemed after 10 years to keep RINL running. RINL has already hit its borrowing limits with banks and cannot take out more loans. It has also defaulted on loan repayments in June 2024.
RINL owes around Rs 35,000 crore, but the Minister believes this can be paid off as the plant starts making money. Officials are hopeful that RINL will become profitable by the end of this year. The decision to revive RINL was made recently, and the Salem steel plant in Tamil Nadu will also be brought back to life. Kumaraswamy noted that there is a need for special types of steel in India.
Additionally, he mentioned the plan to merge KIOCL, which produces iron-oxide pellets, with NMDC, which meets about 20% of India’s iron ore needs.
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