The government on Thursday said it has imposed minimum import prices (MIP) and anti-dumping duty on steel products to protect the domestic industry.
According to Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh, the country has the potential to emerge as the second largest steel producer in the world.
He said the government is constantly striving to provide a conducive environment for the growth of the industry through protection from dumping and poor quality steel imports.
"The government has decided to impose minimum import prices, safeguard duty and anti-dumping duty on imports of steel," Singh said here at an interaction with media persons organised by the Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC).
"The government extended MIP on 66 products for two months last week, while rest of the products have been brought under anti-dumping duty," he added.
Recently, the government has imposed anti-dumping duty on steel products imported from countries like China, Japan, Korea, Russia and Indonesia.
He further said in order to augment the Indian steel industry, the Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI) has been set up to give more emphasis on research and development (R&D).
"For production to increase, the amount of domestic consumption has to be increased," Singh said.
"We have asked the government to mandate the use of domestically produced steel in every infrastructure project, be it in the construction of railways, bridges or cars. This will increase the domestic consumption of steel as well as increase production."
--IANS
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