Reprocessing scrap will boost India's steel production: Minister Ram Singh

Union Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh on Saturday said production of steel in India will increase in the years to come as it expands scale of reprocessing scrap materials.

Speaking to PTI here, Singh said as part of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) it will be easier for India to import scrap from the gulf kingdom, which will be recycled for precious industrial metals.

"With the signing of this CEPA agreement, there will be further cooperation and collaboration between steel manufacturers of both countries and this will be a win-win (situation) for both," he said.

Singh said India was producing over 118 million tonnes of steel and by 2030 it is planning to produce 300 million tonnes of steel.

"We should produce enough (steel) to become self-sufficient, as well as export to other parts of the world, he said.

He said earlier India was importing a specific type of steel. Now, we have introduced a PLI (Production Linked Incentives) scheme, for which this budget has provided about Rs 6,322 crore, Singh said.

Singh said the ministry expects investments worth Rs 40,000 crore and there will be export potential of Rs 23,000 crore and a saving of almost Rs 17,000 crore on import bills.

This will create 5.25 lakh jobs and out of that 68,000 will be direct jobs. Very good situation for us and we will be producing quality steel in India, he said.

Addressing the perception of cartelisation in the steel industry, the minister said steel is a deregulated sector in which as of now 86 per cent was in the private sector and only 14 per cent in the government sector.

The private sector is contributing towards 65 million tonnes altogether, the minister said, adding that eventually prices depend on demand and supply.

He added that the production was affected because of the COVID-19 outbreak. There was less mining, so the prices of minerals have gone up. Even today, the prices of coking coal is hitting the roof, touching almost (per metric tonne) USD 600 (Rs 46,055), he said,

He said these high prices were effecting small-scale industries and according measures have been taken.