Visakhapatnam or Vizag is one of the jewels of India's East Coast. As the Headquarters of Eastern Naval Command, it is home to beautiful beaches of Andhra Pradesh.

But do you know that it is also home to the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) which supports nearly quarter of livelihoods of the people of this city? The Steel Plant supports 1 lakh jobs & 5 lakh people. All these jobs and their livelihoods could be in jeopardy in one stroke with the Centre's proposal to privatise the Vizag Steel Plant. 

Now, the Ministry of Steel (Govt of India) has already finalized the privatisation of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), the public sector corporate entity of Vizag Steel Plant (VSP). The Centre wants to privatise because it the Plant has been in losses. What this has done over the years is despite the plant's capacity being 21 million tonnes per year, it is operating with a production capacity of only 7.3 million tonnes currently. The reason for losses of the plant is lack of raw material. Like SAIL, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and other steel plants, the VSP does not have its captive iron ore mine. 

So, if Central government allocates captive iron ore mine to VSP, they can bring back the profits to it and run it on full capacity, without privatisation. Therefore, the Centre should support the Steel Plant & workers' unions along with their livelihoods and stop the privatisation of VSP. It will not only save livelihoods of people depending on the Vizag Steel Plant but also save the state from financial crisis that eventually affects every citizen of Andhra Pradesh.