JAJPUR: Visa Steel shut down its 1.5 million tonne integrated steel plant at Kalinga Nagar on Friday.
With the retrenchment of 350 workers from its two furnaces, all units of ferro-chrome plant were shut down.
The fate of another 2,000 workers and 930 employees, including executives and non-executives of the plant, hangs in balance.
Sources said VISA Steel operated a 2,25,000 TPA blast furnace, 3,00,000 TPA sponge iron plant and 5,00,000 TPA steel plant through electric furnace route along with 1,50,000 TPA ferrochrome plant at Kalinga Nagar.
It has a workforce of over 3,200 of which around 2,350 are workers, 500 non-executives and 400 executive employees. The integrated steel plant produced pig iron, sponge iron, TPA Bar, wire rod and ferrochrome.
It had two DRI units, five ferrochrome units, power plant, steel melting shop (SMS) and hot rolling mill (HRM). Sources said three ferrochrome units, SMS, HRM, power plan and mini blast furnaces of the firm were closed earlier. Only two Ferrochrome units of the plant were operational.
“Visa steel retrenched its 350 contract workers who used to work in its ferrochrome units. As a result, the remaining two ferrochrome units of the plant have been closed as the workers were engaged in both the units. Hence, the integrated steel plant is finally shut down,” said Sanjeev Kumar Samal, a core member of VISA Steel Workers Union. He said the fate of the remaining 3,000 workers of the plant hangs in balance.