Naxals cast shadow over metal scrap import

Govt now facilitates supply in Chhattisgarh depot

The Centre has allowed import of unshredded metal scrap at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in the capital of country’s worst Naxal-infested state of Chhattisgarh.
 

The import in the ICD located in Raipur was allegedly banned following activities of the Left Wing Extremists in the state. The government feared the misuse of scrap by the rebels who have been using metal for making country-made weapons. The Naxalites also use scrap in the improvised explosive devise (IED) that has inflicted maximum casualties on security forces.
 

Following the ban of import in the Raipur depot, the traders were transporting the scrap from the ICD located in Nagpur, Kolkata and Mumbai. The deal added significantly to transportation cost for the industrialists. Besides the industry, the Chhattisgarh government was also taking initiative to allow scrap import in Raipur ICD.
 

“The DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) has notified new procedure that will allow any ICD to handle clearance of unshredded metallic scrap,” Chhattisgarh’s industry secretary Subodh Kumar Singh said.

Chief Minister Raman Singh had written a letter to the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, Finance Minister and Commerce Minister earlier in this connection, he added.
 

The development is a boon for the steel industry in Chhattisgarh, Singh said. The facility would ensure a big cost advantage to sponge and iron industry in the state, which contributes 30 per cent of steel and sponge iron production to the total national output.
 

The Chhattisgarh steel makers are consuming about 10 million tonnes of scrap per annum. Though the Centre’s decision to allow scrap import in Raipur depot has come as a big relief for the Chhattisgarh industrialists, they do not see any immediate respite.
 

“The scrap price in the international market is very high and no industrialist will prefer at this point to import it,” Anil Nachrani, President of Chhattisgarh chamber of commerce and industry’s industry wing, said.