Posted on 26 Apr 2016
Steel imports rise 26% in FY16
Steel imports increased 25.6 per cent to 11.71 million tonnes (mt) in the 2015-16, compared to 9.32 mt in 2014-15.
Minister of State for steel, Vishnu Deo Sai, in the Lok Sabha said the
finished steel import in FY16 was at 11.71 mt (provisional).
The domestic production of finished steel in the last financial year
declined to 90.39 mt (provisional), over 92.16 mt in 2014-15, Sai said.
The minister further said that after the issue of quality control order,
import of seconds and defective products by some unscrupulous importers
were reported in respect of some categories of steel products.
"However, the government does not maintain data on import, sale and
storage of such sub-standard steel products standards-wise," he said.
In a separate reply to the house, the minister said that the government
has long-term vision of increasing domestic steel production capacity to
300 million tonnes per annum by 2025.
"There are two steel projects of central public sector enterprises
(CPSEs) under the Ministry of Steel with time overruns, namely,
expansion of Bhilai Steel Plant and setting up of integrated steel plant
at Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh, which are implemented by SAIL and NMDC
respectively," the minister said.
