Acting on the complaints of sale of fake steel in the Valley, the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has terminated contracts of three Jammu-based conversion agents.
The company has issued public notices in various newspapers informing the people that the agents are no longer associated with it.
The notice reads, “It is for the information of all that the New Jammu Kashmir Rolling Mill, Kashmir Steel Rolling Mill, RB Jodhamal Industries is no longer the conversion agents of Steel Authority of India Limited.”
The company has terminated the contracts of the three agents w.e.f 27 Mar, 2014. The company has further made it clear that it shall not be responsible in any way whatsoever for losses, damages, etc caused to anybody by these parties.
“Hence any entity/organization /individual wishing to work with them shall be doing so at his/their own risk and cost,” the notice reads.
The notice does not mention the reasons for terminating the contracts of the conversion agents. However, according to sources, the complaints of sale of fake steel under the name of SAIL have prompted the company to take this action.
Pertinently, Greater Kashmir on 20 Mar, 2014 carried a news story on sale of fake steel under the seal of SAIL in Kashmir. The report, according to officials of SAIL, prompted the company to take this step.
Sources informed Greater Kashmir that some unscrupulous traders and steel mill owners in Jammu were making steel TMTs and rods using sub-standard raw materials. “Later they would sell them in Kashmir by misbranding them as products of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL),” they said.
According to sources these substandard steel products are used even in many important projects being executed by the state and centre agencies in Kashmir.
“Few days back, a truck laden with steel rods fraudulently trademarked as SAIL was seized by the officials of SAIL and they confirmed that it was substandard steel,” they said, adding that the matter, however, was later put under the carpet.
As per the sources, the SAIL has a network of its distributors across the country that alone is authorized to sell its steel and steel products in the market. However, the SAIL hires and utilizes the services of various steel mills across the country for converting the raw material into finished products.
The conversion agents (such millers are known as) receive the raw material from the SAIL and after converting it into finished products return them to the company. The agents are not authorized to sell these products in the market.
According to sources, the SAIL provides these agents with its seal and authorizes them to use it only on its finished products. However, sources alleged that some Jammu-based steel mill owners (agents of the SAIL) are misusing the SAIL stamp and manufacturing the steel TMT and later pass them to customers by fraudulently putting the SAIL mark on them.
Sourced
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