India: Piyush Goyal meets with Nippon Steel, JFE, urges Japanese firms to source Indian steel

• Govt seeks deeper cooperation on steel technology, sustainable production
• Goyal urges Japanese firms to source Indian steel, defends safeguard duty

Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal visited Japan this week and held meetings in Tokyo with Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto and JFE Steel President Masayuki Hirose.

During the meeting with Nippon Steel, Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Hiroshi Moritaka, Managing Executive Officer Hideki Ogawa, and Special Advisor Yoshiaki Kusuhara were also present to discuss strengthening cooperation in steelmaking, technology transfer, and sustainable production.

The meeting with JFE Steel was attended by Executive Vice President Hiroyuki Ogawa and Senior Managing Executive Officer Isao Akagi, who discussed opportunities to deepen Japan-India relations in the steel sector.

Goyal urges Japanese firms to source Indian steel

During a roundtable discussion, Goyal also urged Japanese companies to source competitively priced, quality-compliant steel from India rather than relying on imports from Japan, according to media reports.

He said that India had adopted a balanced trade policy by applying a safeguard duty on lower-grade steel while allowing higher-grade products to be imported freely. Goyal argued that India cannot be expected to protect foreign companies from trade measures if they do not support domestic producers through local sourcing.

He also said global steel overcapacity, particularly in China, has prompted countries to adopt protective measures. India remains a net steel importer and needs to expand capacity, but investors require protection against future dumping, he stated.

According to the Indian Embassy in Japan, Minister Goyal arrived in Japan on the 24 August, leading India’s largest-ever business delegation to the country. Beginning with a meeting with Shingo Ueno, President of Sumitomo Corporation, he held talks with key figures in Japan’s political and business communities.

The delegation consists of over 200 members from various industries, including steel and other manufacturing sectors, semiconductors, clean energy, automobiles, and finance, and will remain in Japan until 27 August.

Note: This article is published as part of a content exchange agreement between Japan Metal Daily  and BigMint.