India, the world's second-biggest crude steel producer,
turned net steel importer in the fiscal year through March and the trend
continued with finished steel imports scaling a five-year high in April and
May, according to provisional government data.
"We have said that the trade ministry should investigate these imports and
offer its recommendations to the finance ministry, which will take the final
call," the source told Reuters, declining to be identified as the
discussions are not public.
India's steel and trade ministries did not immediately respond to emails from
Reuters seeking comments.
Last week, India's JSW Steel told
Reuters that the steel industry was in talks with the federal government for
trade measures to combat rising imports, particularly from China and Vietnam.
The source
added that the steel ministry had urged officials
from the European Union not to impose higher taxes on its carbon-producing
industries in a meeting two weeks ago.
Reuters on July 29 quoted a top official as saying India had not accepted an EU
proposal to levy higher taxes on its carbon-producing industries.
The EU last year approved the world's first plan to impose tariffs on imports
of high-carbon goods, including steel, aluminium and cement, part of its aim to
reach net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050.
Separately, the steel ministry is in talks with mills to diversify imports of
coking coal, a key steelmaking raw material, from countries including Russia,
Canada and the United States, the source said, as the country tries to cut its
reliance on Australia, its biggest supplier.
Indian steel companies consume around 70 million metric tons of coking coal
annually, and imports constitute around 85% of the country's total requirements.
Some Indian firms had also placed import orders for coking coal from Mongolia
on a trial basis, the source said.
Steelmakers including JSW Steel and state-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL)
were poised to receive coking coal shipments from Mongolia after months of
negotiations, Reuters reported earlier this month.