A recent reply by the Ministry of Steel in Rajya Sabha on the closure of Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant (VISP) in Bhadravati has upset employees, who were hopeful of its revival following a decision by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) to start operations in August 2023.
Minister of State for Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste, in his reply to an unstarred question on August 7, reiterated the closure of the VISP. “The government had accorded in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment of VISP in October 2016. Subsequently, due to the inability expressed by the shortlisted bidders to participate further in the transaction for strategic disinvestment, the expression of interest (EoI) for disinvestment was annulled, and the process for closure of VISP has been conveyed through an office memorandum of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management dated October 14, 2022,” the Minister said in the reply.
Interestingly, this reply from the Ministry came a week after the Steel Authority of India Limited decided to resume production at the plant on August 1.
