India Steel Market Watch
December 1: Narendra Singh Tomar, the Minister for Steel and Mines, said there is no proposal to specifically restrict steel imports from northern and eastern countries.
It was further elaborated that steel being a deregulated sector, the role of the government is limited to that of a facilitator for the growth of the steel industry in the country. Decision relating to imports of various categories of steel etc are, therefore, the sole decision of the individual steel manufacturer or other stakeholders.
The increase/decrease in imports of steel into the country depend on various factors like demand-supply for various items/grades of steel in the domestic market, fluctuations in value of currency, import regulations etc. As per available data for the last three years, steel imports have increased significantly in 2014-15 and the first half of 2015-16.
Traditionally, the government focuses on the quality of imports. The Government of India already has a mandatory quality certification for domestically produced steel but such quality maintenance is not there for imported steels. However, the government is concentrating more on the quality of the steel being imported.
Several steel products which have a direct bearing on human health and/or are critical to safety and security of construction, housing and infrastructure, come under the mandatory quality certification scheme of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).