"The Government proposes to revisit the existing National Steel Policy. It is at conceptual stage," Minister of State for Steel Vishnu Deo Sai said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
Last month, the government's think tank Niti Aayog had floated a working paper where it had mooted a new and dynamic steel policy to bring the over USD 100 billion industry back on track as well as meet the target of 300 million tonnes (MT) capacity by 2025.
Niti Aayog feels that there is a need to examine the entire value chain associated with the industry -- from raw materials to production of finished products -- to discover the bottlenecks in the sector.
The Working Paper -- prepared by Niti Aayog Member V K Saraswat and Niti Aayog professional Ripunjaya Bansal -- said that an ecosystem has to be created that will ensure profitability of the associated industry be it mining, pet coke, pellet or sponge iron.
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"It has resulted in erosion of profits of domestic steel companies and has resulted in Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of domestic steel companies," the minister added.
Listing the steps taken by the government to support the domestic steel industry, Sai said the ministry has notified the Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Orders to check the quality of steel being imported into the country.
Also to provide a level playing field to domestic steel producers, government has imposed Minimum Import Price (MIP) on 66 steel products and has also come out with anti-dumping duties on various grades, Sai said.
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