The Hindu Business Line : Mandatory standards for steel industry soon

The Union Steel Ministry will notify 16 standards, which the steel manufacturers and re-rollers have to comply, with a six months preparatory period, according to Mr R.S. Pandey, Secretary.

The standards will be notified under the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards), and non-standard items shall not be sold. Manufacturers would get six months to get expertise to ensure the quality and marking, he told a workshop on Steel in Construction, here on Monday.

In another step to promote steel consumption, the Ministry wants to promote the setting up of distribution centres in districts, with the participation of both the public sector steel players and the growing number of private companies. Both the players have agreed and by end of 2006, the centres should start getting set up.

CSR initiatives

Mr Pandey also told steel majors to develop `Steel Villages', as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. The idea is to boost the consumption of steel in rural India, which stands at a paltry 2 kg per capita, to at least 4 kg per capita. Incentives in price and supply could also be considered. Even in urban India the consumption is rather low at 71 kg per capita.

In co-ordination with the Institute for Steel Development & Growth (INSDAG), the Ministry would launch a national campaign to promote the consumption of steel in the country. Of the total global consumption of $3,000 billion worth of steel, India accounts for just $36 billion.

However, with the ongoing infrastructure growth and expected boom, steel consumption is likely to grow at an average 10 to 10.5 per cent in the Eleventh Plan. The steel industry is slated to grow rapidly from the capacity of 65 million tonnes (mt) in 2011 to 110 mt in 2020.

"We have to be careful about the supply-demand challenges and the Chinese competition," he said.

Steel intensive

The Chairman and Managing director of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), Mr Y. Siva Sagar Rao, in his keynote address said the steel to cement consumption ratio in the country was 1:4 against 1:1 in China and 1:1.5 in the US. Hence, a steel intensive construction strategy was must for the country.

RINL, based in Visakhapatnam, plans to install heavy sections to meet the growing demands of the domestic infrastructure sector in the coming years.

The Vice-Chairman and MD of JSWL, Mr Sajjan Jindal, in his address said, "Our concrete to steel use is far higher than the world averages. However, steel was getting higher priority from the Government as the country's higher GDP growth rate can only be sustained by higher consumptions."

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