India’s total steel production in 2012 is likely to miss the
target of 124 million tonnes set by then steel minister Virbhadra Singh in
2009.
He had repeatedly announced that India would double steel
production by 2012 i.e. from 60 million tonnes in 2009 to 124 million tonnes in
2012. However, the year 2012 is about to end and it looks like the government
has conveniently forgotten the target set by the former minister.
The steel production in 2011 was at best 75 million tonnes,
and it is unlikely to be more than 80 million tonnes this year, missing the
124-million- tonne target by a fair margin.
According to metals analyst Ravindra Deshpande of Elara
Capital Securities Pvt Ltd, “At least for once, the entire blame cannot be put
on the government, as the economic scenario took its toll. But yes, the
production could have been better than what it is right now, had the government
been proactive in solving some of the sectoral issues.â€Â
After the 2010 Supreme Court ban on iron ore mining in
Karnataka, companies such as JSW Steel took a hit, as they had to scale down
production. Besides, the delays in land acquisition as well as allocation of
mine blocks forced companies to be on the defensive, as they did not to commit
money unless the Centre showed interest.
Source: Business Standard
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