Even as imports surged by about 34 per cent earlier this year, the government today said there is no case of the cheap imports causing injury to domestic steel industry.
"There is no general case of imports causing injury to the domestic steel industry," Minister of State for Steel A Sai Prathap informed Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament, in a written reply.
The official steel import figures of January suggest that inbound shipments surged 34.2 per cent to 7.26 lakh tonne against 5.41 lakh tonne in the same period a year ago.
The minister further said the state-owned firms like SAIL and RINL have not yet approached the government to have a time-bound anti-dumping duty mechanism in place even though their private counterparts like Essar Steel, Ispat Industries have raised concern against the surge in cheap imports.
"The Directorate General of Anti Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD and AD), under Department of Commerce, has informed that no representation from any public sector steel company has been received for evolving a time bound anti- dumping mechanism," Prathap said.
