“We
should be making steel in India, not only for India but for the world. India
has a great opportunity to export a
lot of steel because most of the big steel exporting countries import iron ore
whereas we have our own iron ore. It is a great opportunity for us to add value
to our iron ore, create jobs in economically weaker parts of the country and
build a large-scale globally competitive industry,” says TV
Narendran, MD, Tata Steel.
The
government has rolled back the export duty that had been imposed on steel and
iron ore. Your view vis-a-vis the impact on Indian steel industry?
We had appreciated the fact when the government took a call in May to bring in
export duty for inflationary concerns. We were assured it was temporary and so
I am glad that it has been removed because I firmly believe that India is a
great place to produce steel.
We should be making steel in India, not only for India but for the world. India
has a great opportunity to export a lot of steel because most of the big steel
exporting countries import iron ore whereas we have our own iron ore and steel
plants are normally built in some of the most porous parts of the country. So
it is a great opportunity for us to add value to our iron ore, create jobs in
economically weaker parts of the country and build a large-scale globally
competitive industry. So we welcome the move.
In
addition to this, there are still a couple of challenges like the coking coal
prices as well as raw material. So in addition, what are you looking forward to
from the government?
Coking coal obviously is an issue because we do not have too much of coking
coal but we can do better to make use of the coking coal which is available in
the country. There is more of what we can do. We are talking to the government
about that but largely we are dependent on imports for coking coal.
It comes from Australia, Russia, Mozambique and other places and that is
something that we need to really think about because as the Indian steel
production goes up, the coking coal requirements will also keep growing. We really
need to solve this problem going forward.
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You just mentioned Australia. India and Australia have signed a free trade
agreement (FTA). How are you looking at this trade pact?
We
congratulate the government. I think coal minister Piyush Goyal announced
that it has been cleared by the Australian government. I think it is great
because India and Australia have a lot of opportunities to trade together. I
was there with the minister when he went to Australia in April and I know that
there is huge potential. The Indian-Australian trade today is at a very low
level and can certainly go up. India buys a lot of coking coal from Australia
and that is also another reason why we welcome this FTA.
Regarding
the upcoming Budget, the consultation and discussions have started. Any big
expectation that you or the entire sector is having from the upcoming Budget?
The government over the years has brought down the cost of doing business
by optimising and I think that is good. Fundamentally, we always look at the
cost of doing business and the ease of doing business and
the government has done a good job over the years of getting that better.
Fundamentally, the focus and spending on infrastructure should continue. That
has a huge multiplier effect and if that happens as planned, then the Indian
economy will continue to grow strongly.