Less than 50% Indian Induction Units registered for BIS

Indian secondary steel makers are going through a turbulence time after Indian steel ministry has made BIS mandatory for secondary steel makers, which contributes to almost 40% of India’s total crude steel production of 78 MnT. These players produce steel through Electric Induction Furnace (EIF) or Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) route, which uses Scrap & Sponge as their basic raw material.

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), a national standards body working under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, had come into effect from 12 Sep, 2012 for almost all long steel products. Later, it postponed continuously and a part of it came into effect on 31 Oct, 2013. However, at present condition, Quality Control Order w.e.f 01 Apr, 2014 has made BIS mandatory for all the manufacturers. It is mandatory to ensure the quality of long steel products as per standard specification.

As per BIS, the Sulphur & Phosporus content should be less than or equal to 0.10. But, it is hovering in the range of 0.12-0.15 owing to which quality of steel products is not maintained.

Indian manufacturers claim that it is not possible to make such quality steel using Sponge iron because it contains higher Sulphur & Phosporus content. However, maintenance of such chemical composition is possible by using Scrap, but Scrap has very limited availability.

Manufacturers have shared their concern with Indian steel ministry and asked them to either wave it off or give them proper infrastructure to make sure they can maintain such quality.

According to all India Induction Furnace Association (AIIFA), there are total 1,400 units installed, having a capacity of over 35 MnT. Many small producers of Induction Furnace Industry were not able to follow the quality standards. Across India out of totaled installed plants, less than 50% of plants have gone for BIS registration.

Number of Plants Installed vs. Number of Plants Registered for BIS