Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday said that the Government is actively considering higher import duty on steel from China.
“China dumping steel in the country is a concern for both the industry as well as the Government. The industry have met with us and relayed their concerns and we have been talking to the Finance Ministry about the need to implement a higher import duty,” said Tomar, at an official event here.
Recently, junior Mines Minister Vishnu Deo Sai had informed Rajya Sabha there no ban on Chinese steel had been considered and added that with steel being a deregulated sector, the Centre’s role was restricted to facilitating industry growth.
China is the world’s largest steel producer with a capacity of more than 700 million tonnes (mt), substantially higher than India’s 80 mt. The Centre has set a target of 300 mt of steel by 2025 to become the second largest steel producing nation. Indian imports from China touched 2.9 mt in the April-January period.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had highlighted the need for India to surpass China in the production of steel earlier this week.
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