Quality control order rollbacks should be the start of bigger cleanups

The government defers quality control orders on steel and chemicals, signaling a shift from a protectionist trade regime that hurt downstream industries

The rollback or deferment of about 80 quality control orders (QCOs), mostly Steel (55), chemicals (14) and non-ferrous metals (8), by the government in recent weeks is a clear admission that disguised protection to large industries through indiscriminate use of QCOs (about 750) is hurting the downstream user industries. This welcome step should mark the beginning of more actions to eliminate all tariff and non-tariff barriers that protect the big businesses at the expense of the smaller ones.

 

Barring some exceptions, Indian producers are not globally competitive as our stagnant share of 1.8 per cent