Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh chaired a Consultative Committee meeting here on Wednesday on measures to increase steel demand. The committee deliberated on various issues related to steel industry and focused on the measures to increase steel demand in the country.
The planned investment in infrastructure and construction sector, expansion of railways network, development of domestic shipbuilding industry, opening up of defence sector for private participation, and the anticipated growth in the automobile sector are expected to create significant demand for steel in the country.
Focus would be on deriving maximum use of steel in the following areas:- Construction of steel-intensive structures in rural and urban areas, promotion of steel in infrastructure such as bridges, ports etc in coastal areas and planned expenditure of Rs2.21 lakh crore in infrastructure sector as perbBudget Estimates 2016-17.
Steel-based structures have various advantages like shorter lead time in erection of structures by 50 per cent, longer life durability leading to lower life-cycle-cost and high design comfort with better aesthetics and greater flexibility.
Steel-based structures are also eco-friendly as it can be recycled to re-process used steel and also it prevents other environmental-related hazards like river sand quarrying and aggregate crushing operations. Steel bridges can be used in place of conventional RCC bridges wherever possible because of cost advantage, quicker installation and longer life span.
Some of the focus areas where these steel-based structures can be used are rural development, urban infrastructure and roads & highways, flyovers, etc. In rural development, the housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Panchayat Ghars, rural schools, hospitals, etc. The 'Housing for All' mission deadlined by 2022 can directly contribute to pre-fab and precast mass affordable housing, which in turn will lead to higher consumption of steel. Steel contributes about 2 per cent to national GDP (approximately, Rs2.6 lakh cr).
The steel sector employs around 6.5 lakh people directly and 13 lakhs indirectly in steel and its allied industries. More than 50 per cent of the steel capacity in the country is in medium, small and micro enterprises (MSME) employing about 2 lakh persons.
The Members of Parliament both from the lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha participated in the meeting and extended their valuable suggestions on the subject.