In a move to cut down India’s imports, the government has ensured that the policy will include measures to discourage cheap, substandard imports, including safeguard measures like safeguard duty, anti-dumping duty, etc, as well as to make the Indian steel industry, especially small steel players, competitive in terms of technology and price. — Internet

New Delhi: India is planning to soon unveil its new steel policy by the first week of next month, aiming to provide measures to curb the dumping of cheap imports, including safeguard measures in the steel sector and make the sector more competitive in terms of technology and price. Besides, the government has also set a target to reach 600 million metric tonnes (MMT) to boost steel-making capacity in the country by 2047, a top government official in the ministry of steel said on Tuesday.

Addressing an CII event here, steel secretary Sandeep Poundrik said that the new National Steel Policy (NSP) will be put in the public domain for stakeholder feedback in about a week or so. “The NSP will set a roadmap through 2047 for the Indian steel industry to reach over 600 million tonnes of capacity by 2047, with a higher share of value-added and special steel,” Poundrik said.

The secretary further said that an incentive scheme is being formulated with an outlay of Rs 5,000 crore for MSME steel units to encourage emissions reduction in the steel sector. “India is the only country in the world growing in capacity and consumption at such speed and issues like decarbonization and sustainability remain. So, that is why we are bringing a new policy so that we have a road map for the next two decades up to 2047,” he said.

In a move to cut down India’s imports, the government has ensured that the policy will include measures to discourage cheap, substandard imports, including safeguard measures like safeguard duty, anti-dumping duty, etc, as well as to make the Indian steel industry, especially small steel players, competitive in terms of technology and price.

The government had introduced a National Steel Policy in 2017, aimed at increasing India’s steel manufacturing capability to 300 MT by 2030 along with other parameters such as consumption, ensuring raw material availability, among others. “However, the 2017 policy ‘needed a relook’ taking current challenges and requirements,” the official said, adding that emerging priorities like artificial intelligence, machine learning and technical upgrades require greater focus.

The secretary further said that the government is also proposing a scheme, called as Viksit Bharat Ispat, which is only targetted at small steel producers, especially the MSME sector. “They will be given an incentive linked to their production, which will be dependent on the reduction of carbon emissions. Now, reduction of carbon emissions can only be done by using better technology, by using better raw materials and more use of renewable energy,” he said.

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