Union Steel Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said steel industry is not under the control of the Government and it is working according to the market situation. “The industry is definitely going through a rough phase but soon we will overcome the situation,” he added.
Talking to media persons at Sonari Airport, Tomar said the Central Government under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi is very much with the steel industry and is thinking progressively to counter the situation, especially the import from China, Japan and Korea.
“China is the main threat as it has been dumping steel less than our production cost which is hampering the situation and it’s high time the Government takes severe steps as steel industry is the backbone of the country where more than 6 lakh people are directly while more than 40 lakh are indirectly employed in the industry,” said the Steel Minister who was in the city to inaugurate a private school building.
He said Japan and Korea are also exporting steel to India in tune with the free trade agreement (FTA) pact signed among the three countries but the issue is with Chinese steel.
“Following detailed discussion with all the stakeholders of the steel industry my Ministry submitted a comprehensive report to the commerce Ministry for further consideration. Soon, the commerce ministry will come up with measures to favour steel industry,” said Tomar here on Saturday.
Tomar said that the Finance ministry will also come up with favourable measures to bail out the Steel industry.
Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) projects will start in Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh which will produce 24 MT steel.
Replying to a query, the Minister said there is no shortage of iron ore in the country and the Modi Government, by way of amending MMDR Act 1957, has provided ample opportunity to the steel industry to acquire captive mines through transparent bidding.
“In September 2014, the annual mining of iron ore was 8 million tonnes and in March 2015 the annual mining figures reached 12.44 MT due to the reforms brought in by the Modi government in Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act,” Tomar said.
Total of 43 mines block have been put on auction and anyone interested can bid and it’s open to foreign players also. “We have asked SAIl to cut down expenses so that production cost decreases,” Tomar signed off.