An inter-ministerial panel will meet later this month to sort out issues impeding big-ticket investments in the steel sector.
"An inter-ministerial group (IMG) on July 25 would review the current status of major steel investment projects and find out solutions to problems impacting them," a Steel Ministry official said.
The group will have participation from ministries of steel, coal, mines, environment, railways and shipping among others.
It would discuss issues including delays in environment and forest clearances and mining leases, iron ore and coal linkages and problems in land acquisition, besides other regulatory hurdles.
Officials from key infrastructure ministries and representatives from major steel players like SAIL, RINL, Monnet Ispat, Jindal Steel, Bhushan Steel and Posco are also likely to participate in the meeting, the official added.
The steel ministry is concerned that delays in projects would result in India failing to meet the projected demand of 145 million tonnes (MT) by 2015-16.
Some of the mega projects, including Rs 1.8 lakh crore ventures by ArcelorMittal and Posco, have remained non-starters for last six-seven years as they could not acquire land and get regulatory clearances amid opposition from local people.
More than 200 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) in the sector are pending implementation.
The demand for steel in India, as per estimates, has crossed 110 MT and would further grow to 200 MT by 2020 and 500 MT by 2050.
The official said the steel ministry is concerned that if capacity addition is delayed, India -- the cheapest producer of steel in the world -- will have to import 50 MT of steel in the next few years.
The country's steel production capacity has reached 80 MT per annum with plans to ramp it up to 120 MTPA during the current fiscal.
