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The push to rejuvenate and re-structure the plants in southern India is being seen as part of PM Modi’s strategy to consolidate support in the region, particularly among key allies like TDP & JDS
Steel and Heavy Industries minister HD Kumaraswamy during the visit to Bhadravati (VISL). (News18)
The Narendra Modi government, after the successful revival plans for Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), is now setting its sights on breathing new life into four more nationalised steel plants, which include Bhadravati Steel Plant (VISL), Mangaluru’s KIOL in Karnataka, and Salem Steel Plant in Tamil Nadu, News18 has learnt.
According to sources in the government, these plans aim to generate more employment, strengthen the plants’ self-sustainability, and align with PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’ vision. The initiative, led by the Ministry of Steel and Heavy Industries under HD Kumaraswamy, has already begun with the minister personally visiting these plants and assessing revival strategies.
This move is not just about economic revival—it also carries the PM’s target of bringing India’s steel production to 300 million tonnes by 2030. Aligned with this vision, Kumaraswamy is learnt to have started work in building India’s indigenous and nationalised plants to be more self-sufficient in terms of infrastructure and labour force.
The push to rejuvenate and re-structure the state-owned steel plants in southern India is being seen as part of PM Modi’s strategy to consolidate support in the region, particularly among key allies like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh and the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka. Both states are crucial to the BJP’s larger southern-regional outreach, a region where the party is steadily making inroads.
Meanwhile, it is likely to strengthen BJP in Tamil Nadu, which is largely dominated by regional parties with DMK being in power. The sources added that the projects are expected to give the much-needed impetus to K Annamalai and the BJP leadership in the state.
Progress In Motion
Kumaraswamy visited the major state-owned steel plants over the last eight months beginning June 2024. He held a series of meetings with the management and interacted with the workforce in his effort to reorganise the establishments and scale up production, said sources.
“Reviving public sector units (PSUs), long seen as symbols of India’s industrial strength, is also a clear statement of intent by the government to reposition state-owned enterprises as the engines of growth. It also changes the Opposition’s narrative accusing the government of selling national assets,” said the senior officer.
For the government, which is often accused of favouring privatisation, this could mark a politically astute recalibration aimed at addressing employment concerns and boosting regional confidence in Modi’s economic model.
The four projects, still in the planning stages, also signal a decisive effort to bring PSUs back into focus, emphasising Modi’s larger economic policies. Whether the efforts will pay off in terms of both economic and political dividends remains to be seen, but the groundwork seems to be already underway.
