The Hindu Business Line : CCEA clears national steel policy — 100-mt production by 2019-20 targeted

THE Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved a new National Steel Policy that would seek to enhance domestic steel production by almost three times to over 100 million tonnes (mt) annually by the year 2019-20. The present steel production stands at 38 mt.

To reach the 100-million-tonnes target, the industry has to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 7.3 per cent, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mr Jaipal Reddy, told reporters after the meeting. According to estimates, more than Rs 2-lakh-crore investments would be required to achieve the capacity of 100 million tonnes.

The policy aims at making the domestic steel industry globally competitive in terms of cost, quality and product mix, Mr Reddy said and mentioned that it envisages that India should have a modern and efficient steel industry of world standards catering to diversified steel demand.

The policy suggests adoption of a multi-pronged strategy to move towards the long-term goal.

On the demand side, the strategy would be to create an incremental demand through promotional efforts, creation of awareness and strengthening the delivery chain, particularly in the rural areas.

Simultaneously, on the supply side, the strategy would be to facilitate creation of additional capacity, remove procedural and policy bottlenecks in the availability of inputs such as iron ore and coal, make higher investments in research and development and human resource development and encourage the creation of infrastructure such as roads, railways and ports, the policy paper states.

The National Steel Policy had been in the offing since 2000 and four earlier drafts had been rejected because of lack of consensus among interest groups.

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