New Delhi: Exporters have opposed extension of Minimum Import Price (MIP) regime for steel. Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) said blocking steel imports has hit the interest of the user industries which are playing a far greater role in the government’s Make in India flagship programme than the steel makers.
“Besides, there has been a considerable drop in steel imports in the past few months along with quite a firming up of prices, making it imperative for the government not to give any more protection to the steel manufacturers, keeping in mind the interest of millions of small and medium enterprises using steel as the raw material,” said EEPC India.
It also contested the reports which stated that the letters of credits (LCs) and Advance Authorisation (AA) have been used to circumvent the MIP. “This is not borne out by the imports data which have fallen. Further, advance LCs have a life of 90 days for delivery,” it said.
