Major metals and stainless steel industries associations, have urged the Steel Ministry to have a relook at the Stainless Steel products Quality Control (QC) Order, 2016.
Industry bodies, Process Plant & Machinery Association of India (PPMAI) and the Metal and Stainless Steel Merchants Association (MASSMA) say that the order does not cover over 60 per cent of most of the non-standard grades of stainless steel being produced and imported in the country.
The Stainless Steel Products QC Order makes it mandatory to register with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and prohibits manufacture, import, storage, sale and distribution of stainless steel products by trade and industry without such registration.
"More than 60 per cent of stainless steel produced in the country includes non-standard flat products not conforming to American Standards for Testing of Materials (ASTM) or any other international standard or local BIS standard," a joint statement said.
Though the order seeks to ensure that the domestic and industrial users get quality products, however, over 60 per cent stainless steel (of 200 series with below 1 per cent Nickel) is used mostly by utensil makers, which is not covered under the QC Order or under IS Standards of BIS, it added.
"This needs a probe as why it has been left out under the Quality Control order. Is this a oversight or a deliberate move to Safeguard a particular section of industry or manufacturers," MASSMA Chairman (Excise and Customs) Manoj Kunango questioned.
Industry also demands that the implementation date of the QC Order must be extended by nine months as requested by various sectors well as by Larsen and Toubro (L&T), PPMAI Secretary V P Ramachandran said.
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