MSTC 'Metal Mandi' to go live by September

The firm is currently holding road-shows to incite interest of buyers and suppliers for the e-trading platform

The steel product e-sale platform being developed by state-owned MSTC Limited will go live in September this year, Union steel minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said at a press conference on Wednesday.

When contacted, MSTC officials said the company was currently holding road shows for the e-trading platform. The platform would be “like the Flipkart for sale of finished and semi-finished steel products”, the official added. “We held a road show in Ludhiana last month. It will now be held in Bhubaneswar, Gurgaon and Delhi. The effort is to educate as many sellers and buyers we can.”

He said the platform would a transparent and virtual market place with real price realisation. The Metal Mandi initiative was launched jointly by the steel ministry and MSTC as part of the ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives of the central government.

MSTC (formerly known as Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited) is a public-sector utility with Miniratna status. Through its portal www.mstcecommerce.com, the company sells mineral products such as iron ore, imported thermal coal, chrome, manganese ore, etc besides agricultural and forest products like tobacco, tendu leaf, and timber. It also supplies shredded scrap to various secondary steel industries in India.