Amaravati, Feb 4 : Public sector enterprise Visakhapatnam Steel Plant is back on the path to profitability with the support of the Central and Andhra Pradesh governments, officials informed Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, claimed to have achieved unprecedented progress in a year-and-a-half, earning a profit of Rs 54 crore in January 2026.

The Chief Minister held a review meeting on the progress of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

Union Steel Ministry Secretary Sandeep Poundrik, Vizag Steel Plant CMD Manish Raj Gupta, Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand, and other senior state government officials attended the review.

The plant's CMD explained to the Chief Minister that with the continuous support from the Central and state governments, the plant has overcome its past losses and is currently producing 19,401 tonnes of hot metal per day.

He stated that in the second quarter of 2024-25, they were able to produce only 9,215 tonnes per day.

Officials informed the Chief Minister that production has increased significantly as all three blast furnaces are now fully operational. They stated that the steel plant's capacity utilisation has reached a record high of 94 per cent. They added that last year, they were able to operate at only 45 per cent of their production capacity.

It was explained that with the support provided by the state government in various areas such as taxes, electricity dues, and water supply, the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant has moved from a phase of financial losses to profitability.

They stated that with the Rs 11,440 crore assistance provided by the Central government, the steel plant has stabilised and is achieving good results. It was also revealed that RINL's credit rating has improved.

Responding to this, the Chief Minister instructed the officials to introduce new policies in all departments to further strengthen the steel plant. He said that this success was possible only with the cooperation of the workers, employees, officials, and the Central and state governments.

/IANS