Rs 150cr R & D Fund Planned For Steel Sector

The ministry for steel and mines has proposed to make available Rs 150 crore annually as the governments contribution towards research and development (R&D) in the steel industry, Union steel and mines minister Birendra Prasad Baishya said yesterday.

Estimates show that the steel industry in the country spends only about 0.3 per cent of its turnover on research and development, Baishya said while inaugurating a one-day national seminar on `Environmental management in the steel industry - towards sustainable development, here.

He said environmental concerns have taken centre stage now. In a general sense, the term `sustainable development means `meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of the future generations. Environmental issues in the steel industry are mainly related to control of secondary emissions, minimisation of solid waste generation and conservation of water.

My ministry has the responsibility of ensuring that the development of the steel industry is sustainable and environment-friendly, he said.

Baishya said the increasing public awareness about environmental issues is likely to result in more stringent pollution control norms.

Global initiatives to tax an industry based on the amount of carbon it emitted was likely to influence future choices of technology and could make Indian steel production under its current technology correspondingly less competitive, he said, adding that the steel industry had to seriously address this issue for survival.