RINL Announces Third Phase of Voluntary Retirement Scheme

Visakhapatnam: The management of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), which operates Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, has issued a notification announcing the third phase of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS).

The notification, published on December 24, stated that the program is a revised version of the first phase notified on January 14 this year and the second phase released on June 14. Applications will be accepted online between January 1 and January 20, 2026. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be taken into consideration. Employees will be able to withdraw their applications online until January 23, and withdrawal will not be allowed after this date.

Employees who have completed at least 15 years of service with RINL and have attained the age of 45 years are eligible to apply. Eligibility will be considered at the time the application is submitted. As per the guidelines, around 4,000 employees are eligible for the scheme out of a total eligible staff of 12,300.

VRS aims to rationalize manpower, optimize human resources utilization, reduce costs and increase efficiency, the notification said.

While 1,126 employees chose VRS in the first stage, 487 people exited in the second stage. Union leaders said that in the second phase, only 50 percent of employees received full VRS compensation, but legal benefits were paid to all.

Currently, the steel mill employs 9,385 permanent employees and approximately 8,400 contract workers. Sources said Rs 506 billion has been allocated for VRS compensation in the first phase.

Senior union leader Ayodhya Ramu said around 7,000 employees left RINL after the Center announced its disinvestment decision in January 2021. At that time, the factory recorded a turnover of around Rs 28,000 billion and an operating profit of Rs 940 billion.