The industry of North-East is in a fix due to an acute crisis for non-availability of steel in the region, even as the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) denies any short supply.
Against the region's demand of 34,700 MT for the year 2008-09, only 2,000 MT has been made available till June by SAIL. SAIL, on its part, refutes the charges that it has reduced its supply to the region and rather claims that its supply in the domestic market as a whole has increased by 32 per cent during the period.
National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) is the nodal agency for procurement of steel from SAIL for Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura and had placed a requirement order of 34,700 MT before SAIL in March 2008.
SAIL has said that though an offer of 4500 MT was made to NSIC till June this year, "unfortunately" NSIC only lifted 2500 MT.
AB Banerjee, chief manager of NSIC, has categorically refuted the charge of SAIL and said that SAIL only made an offer of 2520.78 MT, and not 4500 MT as it has been claiming. He said that till June the demand NSIC, made before SAIL, was of 6,295 MT of steel.
Even as charges and counter-charges between SAIL and NSIC continue, apparently to unearth the mystery behind the ongoing steel crisis, the industry of the region remains at the receiving end.
Federation of Industry and Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER), the prominent trade and industry body of North-East, in a letter to SAIL had stated that "if the industrial units have to face closure due to non availability of raw materials from prestigious PUS like SAIL, then the very purpose of the North-East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP) 2007 and Vision 2020 for the region would be diluted."
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"The situation is very grave," remarked RS Joshi, president of FINER and an entrepreneur engaged in steel sector. "Never had we faced a crisis of such magnitude in past," he added.
"I have the required capital but I don't have raw material. This is really a bizarre situation," Joshi said. He said that the delay in supply is badly hampering production schedules of the units. Either orders are being cancelled or are postponed.
"With prices skyrocketing everyday, delay in supply would result into further price-rise in the region," Joshi said.
He said that many units have been subjected to pay penalties by buyer-parties as they could not meet the deadline for supply of orders due to delays in arrival of steel.
He said that the situation is "grave" for the small scale industries as it would be "very difficult" for them to sustain for long if the shortage continues.
"If there are cancellations of orders due to delays small scale units might find it difficult to sustain for long," said Joshi.
Steel being one of the basic inputs for industry, the crisis would surely affect the industry as a whole in North-East, said Joshi.