ROURKELA: Demand has grown louder for removal of executives of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) from the operational and management activities of Bisra Stone Lime Company (BSLC) Ltd at Birmitrapur in Sundargarh district to help sustain the PSU mining company’s revival prospects.
After posting a profit before tax (PBT) of around Rs 6.96 crore in the first half (April–September) of 2025–26, BSLC is now staring at losses in the third quarter (October–December). As of 2025, BSLC’s accumulated losses stand at around Rs 211 crore, while its negative net worth is estimated at about Rs 118 crore.
Recently, former general secretary of Steel Executives’ Federation of India (SEFI) Bimal Bisi submitted a letter to Union Tribal Affairs Minister and Sundargarh MP Jual Oram, urging him to request the Steel Ministry to withdraw RINL executives from BSLC and take other measures in the company’s interest. RINL is BSLC’s controlling company.
Reiterating a demand earlier raised by former Birmitrapur MLA Shankar Oram, Bisi said from August 13, a senior general manager, one general manager and two assistant general managers, drawing monthly salaries of Rs 2 to Rs 2.5 lakh, have replaced BSLC’s existing executives who were paid between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh.
He alleged that the RINL executives, drawn from the Raw Materials Handling Plant (RMHP) and lacking managerial and marketing experience, have created operational chaos and imposed an additional financial burden on the debt-ridden and cash-starved BSLC. Bisi pointed out that after 46 years of continuous losses, BSLC had started recording profits from 2021–22 until mid-2025 under its own experienced and comparatively low-paid management. He further noted that RINL, which has availed a revival package of Rs 11,440 crore and is downsizing its workforce, has needlessly shifted four executives and one technician to BSLC to offload its burden.
Reliable sources said BSLC’s dispatch operations have suffered a gradual decline since October 2025 due to the absence of effective liaison for securing orders and railway rakes for material transportation. In a further setback, the Mining department stopped dispatches from the first week of December 2025, citing pending additional royalty payments amounting to around Rs 5 crore. Although BSLC has since cleared the additional royalty dues, it is still awaiting dispatch clearance.
On the other hand, general secretary of Gangpur Labour Union (GLU) Sandeep Mishra defended the deputation of RINL executives. He claimed that at the behest of all three unions of BSLC, RINL deputed its executives to establish a direct link between BSLC’s local management and the CMD of RINL for the company’s long-term benefit.