Steel imports rise 26% in FY16

Steel imports increased 25.6 per cent to 11.71 million tonnes (mt) in the 2015-16, compared to 9.32 mt in 2014-15.

Minister of State for steel, Vishnu Deo Sai, in the Lok Sabha said the finished steel import in FY16 was at 11.71 mt (provisional).

The domestic production of finished steel in the last financial year declined to 90.39 mt (provisional), over 92.16 mt in 2014-15, Sai said.

The minister further said that after the issue of quality control order, import of seconds and defective products by some unscrupulous importers were reported in respect of some categories of steel products.

"However, the government does not maintain data on import, sale and storage of such sub-standard steel products standards-wise," he said.

In a separate reply to the house, the minister said that the government has long-term vision of increasing domestic steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes per annum by 2025.

"There are two steel projects of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) under the Ministry of Steel with time overruns, namely, expansion of Bhilai Steel Plant and setting up of integrated steel plant at Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh, which are implemented by SAIL and NMDC respectively," the minister said.