Asserting the ailing domestic steel industry, Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has said that the steel sector is expected to witness improvement in demand in the coming months, due to increased spending on infrastructure coupled with long-term government policies. The minister said that “The steel demand has grown 3.3 per cent during April -December 2016. This is expected to improve in the coming months”.
The minister further stated that the current scenario in the steel sector is well known, and hence the government will take all necessary measures as and when required to support the industry. While noting that India has been a bright spot in global economy, Steel Minister stated that as per World Steel Association prediction, steel demand in India will grow at the rate of 5.7 per cent in 2017.
Steel Minister pointed that the government has provided extensive support to the domestic steel industry by way of various trade remedial measures and said that minimum import prices (MIP) was notified as an emergency measure as other trade remedial measures such as anti-dumping rules and safeguard rules are process oriented and are time consuming in terms of implementation and impact. However, he noted that MIP was gradually phased out as and when suitable trade remedial measures were put in place.