Indian steel sector looking up Paswan

New Delhi, May 16 (UNI) Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today said growing domestic demands and exports have resulted in cent per cent capacity utilisation in the steel sector, despite raw material and infrastructural constraints.

Inaugurating a two day International Conference on Steel here Mr Paswan said. With the rising prospects in the steel sector, both within the country and globally, there is a considerable scope for increasing its production.

He said the Government of India will continue to play the role of proactive facilitator. Given the strength of the Indian economy, our requirement for steel will continue to grow. The recantly announced National Steel Policy, he said, it lays down the broad roadmap for the growth of the domestic steel sector. With the modest target of producing about 110 million tonnes of steel by 2020, the strategic goal was to have a modern and efficient steel industry of world standard, catering to diversified demand for steel.

The focus of the policy was to achieve global competitiveness not only in terms of the cost, quality and product but also in terms of efficiency and productivity, he said.

Mr Paswan emphasised that the global trade in steel industry had doubled in the last five years. If the raw material costs were deducted, the cost of production in real terms had fallen in most places due to technological advances made possible by an easy flow of technology across the globe. Globalisation had led to proper identification of the competitive advantages within the country and across the regions setting up conditions for competitive growth.

This has led to a better economic and competitive use of the raw materials and human resources, he said.

The conference is being organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) in cooperation with the Ministry of Steel. The meet is being attended by over 250 delegates from 30 steel-producing countries including Government representatives, national steel bodies and international trade associations.

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