Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has decided to resume production at the Visvesaraya Iron and Steel Plant (VISP) in Bhadravati, in Shivamogga district of Karnataka, cheering up employees who have been seeking revival of the unit.
In a press release on August 1, Shivamogga Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra informed mediapersons that the SAIL board met on August 1. The board decided to resume bar-mill operations on August 10. The primary mill would start functioning in due course.
According to Mr. Raghavendra, the SAIL arrived at this decision following instructions from Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Steel Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. “This happened because of repeated meetings with the Ministers and officials concerned. I thank the Union Government for the decision,” he said.
He exuded confidence that, in the coming days, the plant would get all the required support, and would regain its past glory.
On January 16 this year, the SAIL board decided to close its Bhadravati unit. This came as a shock to 211 permanent employees and 1,340 workers recruited on contract basis. Since then, workers of the unit and the people of Bhadravati have staged a series of protests opposing the decision.
H.G. Suresh, president of the Association of Contract Workers, said, “Today is the 195th day of our protest. We received the good news about the start of production work. This is the first step towards success. However, we will continue the protest until we get a permanent solution to the problem.”
Following the decision to close the unit, employees were engaged in maintenance of the machinery. Contract workers were assigned work for 13 to 20 days in a month.
J. Jagadish, president of the VISL Workers’ Association, said that the board’s decision had renewed the hope of employees. “The board’s decision has been communicated to the employees. We are happy. I hope, gradually, all the units will start production,” he said. Equipment for starting the primary mill would have to be procured from Bhilai in Chhattisgarh.
The VISP was set up on January 18, 1918, by Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar of the Mysuru princely state as Mysore Wood Distillation and Iron Works. The production of pig iron began in 1923. Mild steel production started in 1936.
