Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K. Karad has confirmed that the Centre has received proposals from the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) employees’ unions for merger of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
Referring to the unstarred questions posed by BJP MP G.V.L. Narasimha Rao in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the Minister said that as steel was a non-strategic sector, there was no scope to consider the merger of the RINL with other Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).
The Minister also confirmed that the strategic disinvestment of the VSP was on course and the Transaction Adviser (TA), Legal Adviser (LA) and Asset Valuer (AV) stages through competitive bidding process had been completed.
Referring to the number of employees working with the RINL, Union Minister of State for Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste mentioned that there were 5,190 executives and 10,583 non-executives working as permanent employees, while another 16,816 employees were working as contract labourers with various external outsourcing contractors.
On whether the Centre or the RINL has held any discussions with the permanent or contractual employees’ associations about the strategic disinvestment plans, the Union Minister said that the RINL management had held discussions with various registered unions of the plant and impressed upon them the need for disinvestment for capital infusion.
Referring to a question by Mr. Narasimha Rao as to how the Centre would safeguard the interests of permanent and contractual workers, Mr. Kulaste said that the concerns of legitimate employees would be addressed through appropriate provisions made in the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) or other agreements to be signed by the government with the potential strategic buyer.
Mr. Narasimha Rao further said that he would engage with all stakeholders to safeguard the interests of over 30,000 employees directly connected with the RINL by evolving a win-win policy that would safeguard the interests of both the employees and the government.
