India will become second biggest steel manufacturer by year

Union Minister for Steel Birender Singh today said India would become the second biggest steel manufacturer in the world by year-end.
Currently, China is the largest steel manufacturing country followed by Japan and produces five times more steel than India.
"At present, about six lakh tonnes of steel is manufactured in old factories and private plants across India. Steel industry accounts for just two per cent share in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country and efforts are being made to increase it," he said while inaugurating the newly-constructed Ganga Ram Hospital in Rohtak.
Singh said a new steel manufacturing plant of one million tonne capacity would soon be set up in joint venture and the Steel manufactured here would be exported.

In order to put a check on corruption and provide better opportunities to the youth, he said it is essential to bridge the education gap between the urban and the rural areas.
"The vision of a better India can only be realised after bridging the gap between the education facilities available in the rural and urban areas," Singh said.

Singh said the state government led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has introduced new programmes and schemes which had started yielding "positive results."
"The BJP Government has eliminated corruption in Haryana to a great extent. It recently declared merit-based result of the HCS examination which bears testimony to better and transparent policies pursued by the present state government," he said.

Taking potshots at Congress, the former Congress leader, said the party had always suffered due to its inclination for "political expediency".
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Later speaking in Jind today, Singh said that Rs 70,000 crore would be spent on the construction of two "national super highways" from Delhi to Katra and Delhi to Jaipur.
Both will pass through Haryana and benefit the state immensely, he said.
He said after completion of the highways, the distance of 727 kms between Delhi and Katra would be reduced to 572 kms and would be covered in 12 to 13 hours.
This super highway would pass through Jind, Uchana, Narwana, Moga, Jalandhar and Amritsar, he said.

The distance between Delhi and Jind would also be considerably reduced and would be covered in only 70 minutes, he said.
"This super highway would accelerate the pace of economic development of the state as well as of the country, and will encourage industrialists to set up units in the area, providing employment opportunities to the people," he said.
The Union Minister said the highway from Delhi to Jaipur via Rewari-Pataudi running parallel to NH-8, would also play a significant role in economic development of the state.
Answering a question on sugar mills, he said the capacity of Jind Cooperative Sugar Mill would be doubled.

Apart from Shahbad Cooperative Sugar Mill, all other 11 Cooperative Sugar Mills are incurring losses. The matter has been discussed with the Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, and it has been suggested to constitute a committee to go into the matter, he said.
A suggestion has been made to set up sugar complexes to reduce and cover the losses, he said.
Singh said captive power would be generated in these sugar complexes which would not only fulfil the mills' requirement of electricity but would also distribute surplus power to the adjoining villages. It has also been suggested that a distillery be set up at these complexes.

Currently, there are no distillery in the cooperative sector, he added.
The Union Minister said that new seeds of 'bajra' (millet) and 'jwar' with four per cent sugar content had arrived in the market.
He wanted research done to find out alternatives to sugarcane.