Steel ministry forms several initiatives

The Indian steel ministry has been making intensive hard work for the development of the steel sector in the country. The steel ministry, through its PSUs SAIL and RINL, has launched a rural dealership scheme to provide steel at the doorstep of the rural customers. Also, the steel ministry has recommended a 30% increase in export duty to help steel makers who do not have backward linkages and to encourage use of Indian ore in the country.

A high level committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of additional secretary and financial secretary. The CMDs of SAIL, RINL, NMDC and concerned joint secretaries of the PSUs to study various issues related to imported Essar Steel’s Minnesota plant to go on stream next yearcoking coal.

The steel ministry has also prepared a R&D policy, which aims at increasing the R&D investments in India from the current levels of 0.15% to 0.3% of turnover to 1% by 2015-16 and 2% by 2020. It will concentrate on alternative iron making tools and adoption of technologies, such as FINEX, FASTMET / FASTMELT, ITmK3. The plan also aims to provide incentives to encourage setting-up an iron ore beneficiation and coal cleaning facilities, and strengthens in-house R&D set ups of steel companies and development of indigenous capabilities for designing/engineering and equipment manufacturing.