A festive atmosphere enveloped the premises when Rio Olympics silver medallist P.V. Sindhu took part in a string of events organised by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, the corporate entity of Visakhaptnam Steel Plant, on Saturday as part of its 35th Formation Day celebrations.
Amidst huge applause from the gathering, the brand ambassador of Vizag Steel planted saplings and flagged off a cycle rally before playing badminton with RINL personnel and schoolchildren who could hardly wait to play with the ace shuttler. A few lucky ones managed to click selfies with her.
Speaking on the occasion, Sindhu said: “I am visiting Vizag after a very long time. I used to come to the city and play badminton when I was a junior. Be it sports or academics, make sure that you excel in whatever field you enter.”
RINL plans big
Terming Sindhu’s achievement an inspiration to the younger generation, RINL Chairman-cum-Managing Director P. Madhusudan said Sindhu had taken badminton altogether to a new level. “Hard work and commitment are the two main qualities that made her push the boundaries. Youth should imbibe these qualities and make conscious efforts to develop these traits to come up in life,” he said.
On RINL’s future plans, Mr. Madhusudan told The Hindu that the organisation was in expansion mode and all the units would be ramped up by the end of the calendar year.
“The plant began its production in 1991-92 with a capacity of three million tonnes. With the expansion drive of 6.3 million tonne capacity already completed, RINL is keen on increasing its capacity to another million tonnes by modernising blast furnaces and other critical areas of operations.
“If this shapes up, the steel production will go up and the present annual turnover of ₹12,500 crore will almost be doubled,” he explained.
Mr. Madhusudan said despite several ups and downs, RINL had stood the test of time and created a global presence in producing quality steel. Currently, the organisation provides direct employment to 17,700 people in various departments.
