Govt calls for 'open house' to discuss steel import issues with industry

The government on Monday called for an "open house" to discuss issues related to steel imports with industry stakeholders.

Companies and associations may present their issues in the open house scheduled for October 27 in the national capital, the Ministry of Steel said in a statement.

The development comes at a time when domestic players have been complaining about cheap imports affecting their competitiveness.

The Reserve Bank India (RBI) has also noted that steel imports have seen a surge, largely driven by lower import prices. It has also called for policy support to boost the competitiveness of domestic steel production.

"The dumping of cheap steel from global producers may pose a risk to the domestic steel production, which can be mitigated through suitable policy measures," as per an article published in the Reserve Bank's October Bulletin.

"The dumping of cheap steel from global producers may pose a risk to the domestic steel production, which can be mitigated through suitable policy measures. The recent initiative to impose the safeguard duty provides insulation against the import dumping," said the article titled 'Steel Under Siege: Understanding the Impact of Dumping on India'.

India imports steel products to supplement its consumption demand. The country's iron and steel imports expanded by 10.7 per cent in the first half of 2024-25 and recorded a contraction in the second half of 2024-25, mainly due to safeguard duties.

The government has already imposed a 12 per cent safeguard duty on imports of certain steel products in the country for three years. The duty has been imposed on recommendations of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), under the commerce and industry ministry.

As per official data, India's imports of finished steel rose to 0.67 million tonnes (MT) in August 2025 compared with 0.45 MT in July 2025.

Shares of major countries like China, Taiwan and Germany fell in India's steel imports in August 2025 as compared to those of August 2024. In the case of Korea, Japan, Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Italy, the share has increased.

In April-August period of FY26, the country has been a net importer of steel with inbound shipments exceeding exports by 0.28 MT.