Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Steel

17-December-2012 16:30 IST

The Minister of Steel, Shri Beni Prasad Verma has said that the present per capital consumption of steel in the country is 59 Kg. (source: Joint Plant Committee (JPC). In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today he said, Steel is a deregulated sector. The role of government in a liberalized economic/market scenario like India is that of a facilitator for encouraging industrial growth through suitable policy measures, based on its assessment of industry performance.

He said, the rural market has been identified by the Government as one of the areas where the potential of steel consumption can be enhanced further. Ministry of Steel has launched a campaign for popularizing usage of steel in rural areas.

The Minister said, the Institute of Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG) has been frequently conducting training programmes to create awareness about the use of steel. The main producers have already established a wide network of rural dealers/distributors so as to make steel available in the remote corners of the country. INSDAG is also working on revised designs of pre-fabricated/semi-fabricated applications as well as increasing aesthetics of steel used in various projects.

INSDAG has been asked to publish brochures on the use of steel in the regional languages also in order to popularize its usage. In order to assess the pattern and trends of steel consumption in rural India, an all India survey was commissioned. A report of study on assessment of steel demand in rural India has been received. Keeping in view the findings in the report, necessary action has since been initiated to increase and popularise consumption of steel in the country, Shri Verma added.

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NSK/DB

Deregulated sector: government acts as facilitator to boost rural steel consumption through campaigns, training and surveys. The steel sector is a deregulated sector where government acts as a facilitator to promote rural steel consumption through campaigns, regional-language brochures, INSDAG training programmes, revised pre-fabricated designs, expanded rural dealer networks, and implementation of measures based on an all-India survey assessing rural steel demand.