India to be Top Second steel maker by 2015: Paswan
According to the Minister of Steel ,Mr Ram Bilas Paswan,With top steel makers like Arcelor Mittal and Posco of South Korea coming to India,the country could be the world's second largest steel maker by 2015 and Indian steel production could hit the fig of 200 million tonnes by 2020.
He, however, warned steel exporters to ensure that there was parity in steel price for the export market and domestic consumption .The price disparity in steel prices is not desirable as exporters tend to export steel at prices lesser than that prevailing in domestic market.
The Minster also said after a meeting of the Steel Consumer Council,that the producers must also maintain the price of steel uniformly at the district and state levels and bear the price difference if required to achieve this.
With fluctuations in global steel market, the price monitoring committee will meet every month and take steps to ensure that prices are kept stable in the country, he said.
"The last fiscal marked the close of the 10th Plan and looking back one finds that production and consumption of finished non-alloy steel grew robustly during this five-year period, notching up an annual growth rate of 10 percent compounded."
The National Steel Policy had forecast the steel produced in India - which is currently the fifth-largest producer - at 110 million tonnes by 2020.
The demand for steel in India will go up due to the development of new markets, new infrastructure projects, growth in the anufacturing sector and a healthy domestic economy.
However,Mr Paswan also added that are big issues that needed to be sorted out to achieve the status of 2nd largest steel producer.
There are a host of issues ranging from raw material availability to proper infrastructure, control of environmental pollution, technology upgrade, sustained research and development, cost control and enhancing com petitiveness.
Mr Paswan also added that there was a need to improve the per capita steel consumption in India by promoting the use of steel at various forums which can be initiated by the steelmakers .
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