Steel Min gets a veteran in Beni Verma

The government today named veteran legislator Beni Prasad Verma, 70, the new Union steel minister, at a time the industry is facing several constraints in terms of halted projects, price rises and raw material sourcing issues.

Singh replaces Virbhadra Singh, who was in charge since May 2009. A rather soft-spoken minister, Singh was vocal on some issues, as in forcing a re-look at the export of iron ore. However, he failed to give a much-needed push to the stalled multi-billion dollar projects committed by steel-producing conglomerates such as Posco and ArcelorMittal, halted due to environment and land allocation hurdles.

The industry is hopeful that the new minister could turn out to be an influential voice in the government and obtain necessary approvals to give a much-needed boost. “This change was needed. The major issue facing the industry today is creation of capacity, which has been stalled because the steel ministry failed to get the necessary approvals from other ministers such as environment. There has to be a strong hand in getting things going,” said a top official from a leading steel firm, on condition of anonymity.

Hailing from Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, Verma was first elected to the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly in 1974 and became a minister in 1977, holding various portfolios till 1980. He returned to the UP cabinet, in various senior posts in 1989. He was made a central minister in 1996; after a few weeks as minister of state, he became a cabinet minister, in charge of communications, for the remaining two years, at a time when the country’s telecom space was just opening up, which led to the cellphone boom. He remained the minister till 1998.

That was his first Lok Sabha term; the current one is his fifth. He has been chairing Parliament’s committee on water resources since 2009. At a time when the country’s biggest steel maker is going for a divestment and all the top steelmakers have chalked out ambitious expansion plans, it remains to be seen what he can do for the sector.

National steel making capacity is set to increase to 120 million tonnes by March 2012, to meet rising demand from auto makers and construction companies, from the current capacity of 72 mt a year.