Govt protecting local steel players from dumping, low prices: Piyush Goyal

India is poised to contribute significantly to global steel demand, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday while emphasising that the government has been able to protect the domestic steel industry from unfair dumping and irrationally low pricing.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Steel India 2025 event here, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Steel and industry body Ficci, Goyal also said both exporters and the MSME sector will continue to get steel at international prices.

"India is consistently focused on self-reliance (Atmanirbharta). But when we talk about Atmanirbharta, we are not closing the doors to the world. We are in fact opening the doors wider because every country will have its competitive advantages for different products," he said.

The Indian steel industry is a very highly efficient and cost-effective, high-quality producer, the Union Commerce and Industry Minister said.

"Therefore we believe that this is one sector where we will not only meet the growing needs of India as it grows into a developed nation by 2047, but we will also be meeting the needs of the world in a very, very competitive environment," the minister stated.

"India is poised to contribute significantly to global steel demand, and grow the steel industry by leaps and bounds," Goyal said.

On the government's recent imposition of a 12 per cent safeguard duty on steel imports, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is always vigilant and proactive to support Indian industry against unfair trading practices.

"But we also balance the demands and needs of the customer. And therefore. We have been able to protect the steel industry from unfair dumping of steel and irrationally low prices that was detected through the quasi judicial inquiry that was done by the DGTR," Goyal said.

At the same time, as a part of this move, the minister said exporters and the MSME sector will continue to get steel at international prices.

India has shown its resilience time and again: Goyal on Pahalgam attack

Goyal said that there is outrage at the dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam and India has shown its resilience time and again.

 

At least 26 people were killed in the terror attack in Pahalgam on Tuesday. "We are all united in grief. We pray for the departed. We wish all those who are injured an early recovery and hope God gives strength to the families of all those who were deeply impacted by this extremely heinous and criminal act of these terrorists from across the border," the minister said at a steel industry conference here.

 

From Kargil to Kanyakumari, there is outrage at the dastardly attack on India's very fabric, Goyal said and added that India has shown its resilience time and again. "I hail from Mumbai, this is my home city. We had faced a very severe terrorist attack on 26th of November 2008. We emerged stronger after that. After the Pulwama attack on our army jawans, we gave a befitting reply to their sponsors. Just like the steel industry is the backbone of our economy," he said.