Centre to give top priority to issues affecting secondary steel sector

Iron-ore & power costs, coal supply are key issues; industry wants cheaper scrap from SAIL units too

The Union Ministry of Steel would give top priority to address the issues of secondary steel makers in the country.

Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh gave several directions to ministry officials during the course of a high-level meeting that was conducted in Raipur on Tuesday afternoon. Representatives from the industry had come from Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Karnataka to participate in the event.

“The issues raised by the secondary steel sector should be taken up as top priority,” Singh told the officials. Steel Secretary Dr Aruna Sharma was also present in the meeting along with other top officials of the ministry.

According to the minister, the secondary steel sector needs to be promoted in order to meet the country’s steel output. He had earlier said that the ministry was working out a plan to enhance the output and make India world’s second largest steel producer.

“The secondary steel sector has a major share in the country’s total steel production and its survival is inevitable,” Singh said, while adding that the secondary steel units are set up with low cost and generate maximum employment. Even the final price after finishing is about 20 per cent less than the primary sector.

The major issues pointed out by the industrialists included curtailing the price of iron-ore, electricity and availability of coal.
They also demanded that the steel plants of the state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) should also provide scrap and raw material at a cheaper cost.

According to Om Prakash Singhania of Laghu Udyog Bharti, an industrial association, the minister had also said that he would organise another meeting in New Delhi, if needed, involving the representatives of the industry and ministry officials for addressing the sector-specific problems.