Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Steel

20-December-2012 16:45 IST

The Minister of Steel, Shri Beni Prasad Verma has said that Government has notified 16 steel products, which have direct bearing on consumer health and safety and critical to infrastructure, under the Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Order, 2012. The Order equally applies to import and domestic production.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today Shri Verma said, implementation of the Order does not prohibit import of steel in the country and it is also not intended to close small scale units. The Order merely mandates that steel products produced in the country or imported must conform to the Standards. The units have been given enough time to gear up to obtain BIS license/registration to be able to operate without interruption. Many of them have already obtained BIS license/registration. Further, Government has deferred implementation of the Order on some of the products to facilitate registration of remaining units with BIS.

The Order does not favour the large scale producers as compared to small scale units, since it is uniformly applicable to both large and small scale producers. Moreover, steel is a deregulated sector and price is determined by prevailing market forces, the Minister added.

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NSK/DB

Mandatory steel quality standards require conformity for imports and domestic production, with deferred implementation to allow registration. Notification under the Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Order, 2012 requires designated steel products, whether domestically produced or imported, to conform to prescribed standards and conditions. The Order uniformly applies to both large and small producers, does not prohibit imports, and includes phased implementation and deferrals to allow units to obtain BIS license/registration and register with the Bureau of Indian Standards.