All Measures to Make Steel Manufacturing Sector Competitive- Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Steel Ministers Meet Steel Industry Representatives

Commerce & Industry and Railways Minister & Steel Minister Meeting Steel Manufacturers Association

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways and Steel Minister discussed the challenges being faced by the steel sector and the import-export trends with steel producers in New Delhi today.

Both the Ministers assured the steel industry that Ministries of Commerce& Industry and Steel will make all efforts to ensure that engineering goods exports double in the next 5 years and reach USD 200 billion by 2030.

This will not only boost India’s exports but will also generate jobs in the manufacturing sector especially the MSME sector.

Although India is the second largest manufacturers of steel but India is also a net importer of steel. Representatives of the steel industry and the Engineering Export Councils discussed in detail with Commerce and Steel Ministers the protectionist measures being imposed by other countries and the under-utilised capacity in steel manufacturing in India.

Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan discussed at length the measures that both Commerce and Industry and Steel Ministry may take, both tariff and non-tariff, to reduce unnecessary imports and boost exports.

The MSME sector steel manufacturers urged steel producers to supply raw material at concessional prices so that the MSME sector can compete in international markets.

The meeting was attended by Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Faggansingh Kulaste, MoS Steel, Secretary Steel, Binoy Kumar, Secretary Commerce, Anup Wadhawan, DGFT, Alok Vardhan Chaturvedi, senior officers of Department of Commerce and Steel Ministry, Chairman SAIL, all members of EEPCs, Indian Steel Association, steel makers and manufacturers and other associations of the steel sector.

Steel sector competitiveness to be boosted through tariff, non tariff and supply side measures to curb imports and enhance exports. Measures to support competitiveness in the steel manufacturing sector focus on coordinated tariff and non tariff interventions and supply side support to curb unnecessary imports and boost exports. The Ministries committed to exploring protective and facilitative trade measures to address under utilised domestic capacity and external protectionist barriers, and to provide targeted relief such as concessional raw materials for MSME steel manufacturers to enhance export competitiveness.