Artificial scarcity of steel seen

PARLIAMENT PANEL REPORTS

Warning the government over "artificial scarcity" of steel, a parliamentary panel has said the small scale sctor needs to be protected from steel producers who are jacking up prices artificially.

"The situation has gone so bad that finished products made out of steel exported from India are coming back to India at cheaper rates," the parliamentary standing committee on industry said in a report tabled in Rajya Sabha recently.

The committee, under the chairmanship of P C Alexander, has said, "Steel producers are reported to be exporting HR coil at about $20 less than the global price and they are claiming an export incentive of around 20 per cent from the government exchequer."

Steel producers were selling the same product in India at the international price with 31 per cent Customs duty and other incindental charges, the report said.

However, representatives from the steel ministry had denied any artificial shortage, it said.

The SSI sector needs to be insulated from such fluctuations in steel prices and there should be a long-term strategy for the sector, formulated after observing the demand and supply pattern for steel in ssi, it said.

"What is called for is a set of measures to make steel available to the small scale sector and thus prevent the danger of closure of hundreds of units depending on steel raw materials," the committee said.