Waltair division celebrated 77th Independence day

The 77th Independence Day was celebrated by the Waltair division of East Coast Railway at Waltair Railway Football ground, Thatichetlapalem with great fervor. Shri. Saurabh Prasada, Divisional Railway Manager, E.Co.Railway/ Waltair unfurled the National Flag and took Rashtriya Salami presented by contingents of Railway Protection Force, Bharat Scouts & Guides and Civil Defense. After inspecting the contingents, Shri Saurabh Prasad extended warm and heartiest greetings to all Railway men, women and their families on the eve of 77th Independence Day. Appreciating all the Railway personnel for their relentless efforts in flagging the Division’s performance, he admired that the hard work, transparency, hard work will continue to achieve new heights in near future. During his speech he highlighted the divisions performance mentioning that the Gross Earnings increased from Rs.8499 crore in financial year 21-22 to Rs.9305 crore in financial year 22-23. The loading increased from 66.87Million tonnes in financial year 21-22 to 69.63 Million Tonnes in financial year 23-24. During the current financial year, loading has already touched 26.41 Million Tonnes till 14th August which is 10.4% higher than 23.92 Million Tonnes during the corresponding period last year. Our Business Development Unit has tapped new market streams of rail transport of fly-ash and PET coke. He said, on the principle of ‘Vikaas Bhi, Virasat Bhi’, fifteen Stations of Waltair Division have been chosen for redevelopment under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme which envisages Railway Stations to develop as city centres with upgraded facilities including a 12m wide Foot Over Bridge, modern amenities and signages for passenger circulation. Foundation Stone for three Stations i.e. Duvvada, Vizianagaram and Damanjodi were laid through video-conferencing on 6th August by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. Further, he said that for the Financial Year 23-24, “we have set ourselves an ambitious target to achieve doubling of record sixteen block sections – seven sections in the KK i.e. the Kottavalasa - Kirandul line, six sections in the RV i.e. the Rayagada – Vizianagaram line and three in the KR i.e. Koraput – Rayagada line. Our Divisional, Construction and RVNL teams are working closely towards achieving this milestone. The complex and tedious work of Remodelling of Waltair Marshalling Yard by provision of Electronic Interlocking System shall be also undertaken this year in which our target is to complete work at least four cabins. We have set ourselves a loading target of 77 Million Tonnes, and also crossing the magic figure of Rs.10,000 crore in Gross earnings this year.” ADRM (Infra) Shri Sudhir Kumar Gupta, ADRM (operations) Shri Manoj Kumar Sahoo, Smt. Manjushree Prasad, President, ECoRWWO, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner Shri Ch Raghuveer, Senior Divisional Personnel Officer Shri Ranjan Mohanthy, other Branch Officers and staff in large numbers witnessed the Amrit Mahotsav- Independence Day. On this occasion cultural events were organized with the participation of the Divisional Cultural Association of Waltair Division, Bharat Scouts & Guides, Staff and RPF. Daredevil performance by MotorBike rides was the main attraction. The sniffer dogs of RPF showed the excellent performance of bomb detection methods, hurdle jumping and narcotics detection. DRM announced cash awards to the performers and organisers who made the programme grand success.

Independence Day Celebrated with patriotic fervour and gaiety at RINL

The RINL-Visakhapatnam steel plant joined the Nation in celebrating the 77th Independence Day with patriotic fervour and gaiety at RINL. Sri Atul Bhatt, CMD, RINL hoisted the National Flag and took the salute accorded by the CISF Jawans at the sprawling Trishna Grounds in the Ukkunagaram, today. Addressing the employees and their family members on the occasion, Sri Atul Bhatt extended his warm Independence Day greetings to all the employees of RINL,their family members, to the members of CISF, Home Guards and Principals, Teachers and students of different schools, Suppliers, Customers, Partners, Stakeholders and each one of our well-wishers who have been associated with RINL in its long journey. Speaking on the occasion, Sri Atul Bhatt, CMD, RINL said that given the background of global and domestic steel demand, RINL is firmly on the path of recovery and during the period, RINL concentrated on re-orientation of strategies to optimize product mix and concentrate on niche markets and high-end value-added products. RINL made remarkable strides with some significant achievements. Highlighting RINL’s performance during the period April-July of the current fiscal 2023-24, Sri Atul Bhatt said that the cumulative Hot Metal production of Rs.14.74 lakh tons is 7% higher than corresponding period last year (CPLY -2022-23). The cumulative Finished Steel production of 11.23 lakh tons is 21% higher than CPLY. The cumulative High-End Value-Added production of 5.03 lakh tons is 71% higher than CPLY. On a cumulative basis, Sales Turnover of Rs.7,183 Cr was achieved, which registered an impressive growth of 23% over CPLY. During the month of July,2023, the High-End Value-Added production of 1.65 lakh tons and sales of 1.30 lakh tons achieved are the best for any month, since inception, informed Sri Atul Bhatt amidst thunderous applause from the audience. Sales Turnover of Rs.1,927 Cr was achieved in the month July, 2023, registered an improvement of 5% over previous month, Sri Atul Bhatt added. Highlighting about various alternatives which are being worked out to bring RINL out of the present cash crisis, Sri Atul Bhatt said that NITs(notice inviting tender) were issued inviting offers for being Trade Partners and for supply of raw materials and take back blooms with a conversion cost. The offers are under different stages of negotiation. Sri Atul Bhatt said that in spite of the adversities, RINL has continued to excel and has been recognized with a number of awards, significant amongst them being: "GreenTech Safety Award 2023" under Safety Excellence Category for outstanding contribution in improving the workplace safety in the year 2022-23, First Position under the category ‘Manufacturing Public Mega’ in the 18th National Awards for Excellence in Cost Management-2022, First prize in ”Ispat Raajbhasha Samman” for best implementation of Hindi during the year 2021-22 in the meeting of Hindi Advisory Committee of Ministry of Steel held at Srinagar on 25th Apr’23. Complimenting the entire RINL collective for their commitment, Sri Atul Bhatt urged them for high levels of self-discipline, both at the technological and personal level; cost consciousness; focused efforts towards customer delight; and optimum utilization of various resources through well-orchestrated conservation efforts and collaborative approach of trust and faith to put RINL back on the track of profitability. “To bring RINL back to profitability in next three months, all the employees including myself and Directors took turnaround pledge on 01/08/2023 to dedicate ourselves towards the turnaround pledge which includes increase in output by a minimum of 20%, reduction in cost by a minimum of 10% and initiatives in Materials Management, Marketing and HR functions”, Sri Atul Bhatt added. RINL is pursuing the restart of Blast Furnace-3 in Aug’23, Sri Atul Bhatt informed. and the Company is actively pursuing the same. Shri D. K. Mohanty, Director (Commercial), shri A. K. Bagchi , Director (Projects) & Addl. Charge, Director (Operations), Dr. S. C. Pandey , Director (Personnel) & Addl. Charge, Director (Finance), Dr. S. Karuna Raju, IAS., Chief Vigilance Officer(CVO), Shri. Attar Mohammed Haneef, Commandant (CISF), Smt. Nupur Bhatt, President, Visteel Mahila Samithi, Senior Officers, Representatives of the Unions, Steel Executive Association, SC & ST Association, OBC Association, WIPS and a large number of employees have attended the Independence Day celebrations.