Iron ore export policy should take domestic DD into account: Paswan

New Delhi, Mar 20 (UNI) Steel Minister, Ram Vilas Paswan today said any policy on export of iron ore should be finalised taking the domestic demand into consideration.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Paswan said the government has finalised a promotional campaign for increasing consumption of steel in the country. He said, the domestic consumption of iron ore and production of steel is on the rise.

The minister said the production target for 2010, which was fixed at 65 Million Tonnes (MT), has been hiked to 80 MT. 156 MOUs have been signed for setting up of new steel projects at a cost of over Rs four lakh crore. This will result in capacity addition to the extent of 175 MT.

Mr Paswan said the Steel Authority of India has also an expansion plan worth Rs 41,000 crore. All this will catapult India to the second largest steel producer in the world by 2015 from the current level of seventh largest producer.

The minister said the current level of steel consumption is quite low at around 39 Kgs per person compared to the global average of 170 Kgs.

The consumption of steel in rural India remains one of the lowest at two Kgs per person. He said the campaign to promote steel is basically to increase the use of steel from bridges and buildings to rural amenities.

Steel, he said, is eco-friendly and can be recycled easily.

He said the public sector companies are increasing their number of stockyards and also the number of dealers at district level, which will help in reaching steel products to rural areas at affordable cost.

The promotion campaign coordinated by the Institute for Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG) will continue for a year. It will be funded by the Ministry of Steel and all major steel producers of the country.

Responding to questions Mr Paswan said the government is currently engaged in upward revision of the national steel production target from 110 MT as fixed in the National Steel Policy for the year 2020 to 170 MT in the wake of tremendous pressure from the domestic steel makers.

UNI