More efforts required to cross 200 million tonnes steel production: Virbhadra Singh

New Delhi, Jul 16 (ANI): Minister for Steel Virbhadra Singh said on Friday that more concerted efforts are required to see that steel capacity goes beyond 200 million tonnes by 2020.

Addressing the 23rd meeting of the National Steel Consumers' Council here today, he said, the massive technology change in industrial production that has taken place in the past few decades has almost completely changed the way steel industry does business today.

The Minister said: "We need the new technology by which we can produce better quality steel on low cost."

He said that the Government is trying to acquire new technology from South Korea and Japan, and added that the Government is also aiming to double the steel production from present 60 million tonne to 120 million tonne by 2012.

Singh said that the Government is planning to expand steel production through brown field and green field projects.

The POSCO Project in Orissa will produce 12 milliom tonne and two projects of Arcelor Mittal in Orissa and Jharkhand with the capacity of 12 million tonne each, he added.

Singh was of the view that the displaced persons should be given proper compensation with proper rehabilitation.

He said that at least one of the people of displaced family should be given job through skill development. He has asked the industry to do this responsibility not on the behalf of locale's cost but on their own cost. (ANI)