Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : The present annual crude steel capacity of the country is 144 MT and is envisaged to reach 300 MT by 2030-31. National Steel Policy, 2017 aims to provide the conducive environment for attaining this objective by providing policy support and guidance to steel producers.
The priority for this sector is evident from the fact that 40% of investment in manufacturing sector in India has been made by companies in the steel sector during 2020-21. Further, after analysing the data, several initiatives have been taken by the Ministry of Steel to increase usage of domestically manufactured steel and import substitution. They are :
(i) Notification of Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) Policy for promoting procurement of Made in India steel.
(ii) Notification of Steel Scrap Recycling Policy to enhance the availability of domestically generated scrap.
(iii) Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Specialty Steel with an outlay of ₹6,322 crores.
Joint Plant Committee (JPC) and Institute for Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG) along with Ministry of Steel have evolved a roadmap for increasing the use of steel in various infrastructure sectors.
Initiatives taken towards this, include the following:
(i) Ministry of Steel organised Workshops in February, 2020 in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bhubaneswar, and Webinar in Jan.uary 2022 in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI), Japan, by engaging Japanese experts on enabling procedures for increase of steel usage for the growth of economy – Building and Construction Sector.
(ii) To enhance domestic steel usage in Railways and Defence Sector a workshop was organised in Feb., 2020 in collaboration with Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Defence.
(iii) To enhance usage of domestically manufactured steel in Oil and Gas Sector, a webinar was organised in collaboration with Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in June, 2020.
(iv) To enhance domestic steel usage in Building & Construction Sector and Civil Aviation Sector a workshop was organised in collaboration with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Ministry of Civil Aviation in August, 2020.
(v) To enhance domestic steel usage in Rural India, a workshop was organised in collaboration with Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Department of Animal Husbandry, and Ministry of Food Processing and Industries in October, 2020.
(vi) Further, a Joint Working Group (JWG) having members from Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Skill Development, Ministry of Steel, BIS, CPWD, Technical Institutions (IITs), and from Industry, has also been setup for fostering steel usage in Housing and Construction sector. JWG has held 3 meetings and the Core Committee under JWG held more than 10 meetings so far.
(vii) Ministry of Steel has also formed a Committee of experts from INSDAG, IITs, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), and industry experts for development of designs for long span (30m, 35m and 40m) steel based Bridges. The design for 30m is finalised and submitted on January 4, 2022.
(viii) A Committee has been formed jointly with Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to prepare a roadmap for promoting domestic steel in Oil and Gas Sector in September, 2020. The Committee submitted the final report in August, 2021.
This information was given by Union Minister for Steel Ram Chandra Prasad Singh in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on February 7, 2022, according to a PIB release.