“The government is committed to maintaining high steel quality standards and further steps will be taken to upgrade productivity and quality, energy efficiency and emissions norms in the steel industry,” Nagendra Nath Sinha, who has recently assumed charge as Secretary, Ministry of Steel, told SteelMint on the sidelines of the India Steel Conclave held in Chhattisgarh.
Dwelling on the technological roadmap for the domestic induction furnace steel (IF) sector, Sinha said: “The IF steelmaking route has certain limitations and, in the long turn, the transition to electric arc furnaces (EAFs) will be inevitable.”
There are concerns related to raw material availability, tax issues, etc. The government will be proactive in resolving all such issues for the development of the industry, he assured.
Explaining the government’s Vision 2030 for the steel industry, he said the standards regime has been implemented through successive quality control orders (QCOs). Over 90% of all finished steel products have come within the ambit of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications. Cheap and sub-standard imports are sought to be restricted through compulsory BIS certification. So, quality remains the top priority for the steel industry.
On the back of continued infrastructure-based growth, steel demand and the CAPEX cycle in the country will remain strong, he added.
“Concerns related to raw material linkage and logistics issues will be addressed by the government for multi-pronged growth of the steel industry,” the senior bureaucrat assured.
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