Andhra Intellectuals Forum president Chalasani Srinivas on Friday demanded that the Centre allocate captive mines to the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and merge it with Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL). He urged Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to exert pressure on the Centre to protect the plant.

Speaking at a press conference organised by the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee at the Visakhapatnam Journalists Forum, Mr. Srinivas said the lack of captive mines was proving a major burden, adding ₹6,400 to the cost of producing a tonne of steel. He alleged that several contract workers had been removed and their Aadhaar cards blocked.

Committee representatives said the ₹11,400 crore allocated by the Centre had been used to repay banks and alleged that no funds had been spent on machinery repairs, plant development or worker welfare. They said the plant needed immediate modernisation and that ₹900 crore in worker dues remained unpaid.