Production at RINL plant affected as 8,000 workers join nationwide strike

Around 8,000 workers of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) did not report for work on Monday, affecting production at the company's 7.5 million tonnes-steel plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

There are around 11,000 non-executive workers at the plant and out of them, about 75 per cent did not come for work as part of the ongoing nationwide strike, according to a company official.

As many as 10 central trade unions on Monday began a two-day nationwide strike to protest against the government's alleged wrong policies that are affecting farmers, workers and the general public.

The strike notices have been given by the unions in various sectors, including coal, steel, oil, telecom, postal, income tax, copper, banks, and insurance.

"We had to shut down one furnace as a precautionary measure. One was already under maintenance. Only one furnace is working (at the plant), the official said while responding to a query related to the impact of workers going on strike.

There are three blast furnaces of 2.5 million tonnes per annum each at the plant.

RINL produces about 18,000 tonnes of hot metal on a daily basis.