Iron ore policy soon : Paswan

Kolkata, Apr 19 (UNI) Union Steel and Fertiliser Minister Ramvilas Paswan today said the Centre would shortly formulate a policy on iron ore distribution and export to supplement the national steel policy.

"There are some gray areas in the national steel policy. We will formulate a policy on the distribution and export of raw materials, including iron ore after consulting the states to cover up those areas," he said at a meet-the-press programme here.

He said the Government's iron ore policy would be based on the report of the Das Committee which was appointed to look into the issue following a demand from several quarters for easy access to iron ore reserve for setting up of steel plants.

"We will prepare a central guideline that the domestic need of iron ore has to be fulfilled before exporting," he said.

Having a reserve of 23 billion tons the country's iron ore production per annum was 142 million tons of which 78 million tons were exported, the Minister informed.

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