By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Steel –PNG Dharmendra Pradhan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Monday said that the demand of raw material i.e., iron ore for Indian Steel Industry is met from the domestic supply in the country while the demand of coking coal is met mainly through imports.
The focus of the Government is on increasing domestic production of coal and to achieve these targets through allocation of more coal blocks, pursuing with State Governments for assistance in land acquisition and coordinated efforts with Railways. In order to enhance domestic production, 25% of coal production has been allowed for sale of coal for newly allocated captive coal blocks. Commercial mining, with a provision for 100% foreign investment, has also been allowed by the Government, Pradhan said.
Further, Ministry of Mines through their two separate orders dated 16.09.2019 have allowed Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) to sell 25 percent of its total iron ore production in the previous year and to dispose of the old stock of 70 Million Tonnes (MT) of low grade iron fines and ores (including slime) lying dumped across different captive mines of SAIL. SAIL mines have made available about 2.6 MT of iron ore (Fresh Fines = 2.2 MT, Dump Fines = 0.4 MT) during the period April-December, 2020, the Union Steel Minister said.
Steel is a de-regulated sector. Decisions regarding modernization, expansion or setting up new steel plants/greenfield projects are taken by the respective companies, based on commercial considerations and market dynamics keeping in view techno-economic viability of projects, he said.
National Steel Policy enshrines the long term vision of the government to give impetus to the steel sector. The policy envisages to create a technologically advanced and globally competitive steel industry that promotes self-sufficiency in steel production as well as economic growth. Steel being a de-regulated sector, government acts a facilitator, by creating enabling environment for development of steel sector. Various initiatives taken by the Government are as following:-
Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) Policy with an objective to encourage production and consumption of domestically produced steel.Steel Scrap Policy to enhance the availability of domestically generated scrap.Issuance of Steel Quality Control Orders to prevent manufacturing and import of non-standardized steel.Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) for advanced registration of steel imports.
Engagement with various stakeholders including industry associations and leaders of domestic steel industry to identify their issues required to be addressed by the concerned Ministries/Departments of the Central Government and State Governments. Engagement with relevant stakeholders including those from the Ministry/ Department of Railways, Defence, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing, Civil Aviation, Road Transport and Highways, Agriculture and Rural Development sectors to enhance the overall demand for steel in the country.
Inclusion of ‘Specialty Steel’ under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme recently announced by the Government. Various schemes as notified from time to time to refund or exempt taxes and duties levied on inputs used in export production like Duty Drawback Scheme and Advanced Authorization Scheme etc. to improve the cost competitiveness of exported items, Pradhan added.
