The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) has taken steps to address the coal shortage caused by the workers’ strike at Adani Gangavaram Port Limited (AGPL). Two of VSP’s vessels, which were stranded at AGPL, have been diverted to the Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA). The strike had resulted in a pile-up of supplies to the Steel Plant, mainly coking coal at the Gangavaram port, leading to a severe shortage of coal for production at the steel
plant.
One of the diverted vessels has already berthed at Vizag Port on Friday, and the unloading of coal has begun. VSP is currently completing the necessary customs formalities and is working with the Railways to transport the cargo (coal) to the plant within the next few days. This initiative is expected to mitigate the coal crisis faced by RINL in a couple of days.
In addition to the diverted vessels, the steel plant management has also arranged for approximately 40,000 tons of coal from other sources to help address the current crisis. As the availability of coal improves, the plant management plans to ramp up production in a phased manner. RINL has been “constantly pursuing with Adani Gangavaram Port Limited (AGPL) regarding the transfer of 82,000 tons of Limestone and 2.2 lakh tons of Coking
Coal which is already available in AGPL,” according to the steel plant management.
