The Steel Minister, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan said here today that growing domestic demands and exports have resulted in a cent per cent capacity utilization in the steel sector. This has been possible despite constraints of raw material and infrastructure. With the rising prospects in the steel sector, both within the country and globally, there is a considerable scope for increasing its production. Shri Paswan was inaugurating a two-day international conference on steel.
The conference has been organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) and the International Iron & Steel Institute (IISI) in cooperation with the Ministry of Steel. It is being attended by over 250 delegates from 30 steel-producing countries including Government representatives, national steel bodies and international trade associations.
Shri Paswan said the Government of India will continue to play the role of proactive facilitator. Given the strength of the Indian economy, our requirement for steel will continue to grow. Referring to the National Steel Policy, announced by the Government recently, he said it lays down the broad roadmap for the growth of the domestic steel sector. With the modest target of producing about 110 million tonnes of steel by 2020, the strategic goal is to have a modern and efficient steel industry of world standard, catering to diversified demand for steel.
The focus of the policy is to achieve global competitiveness not only in terms of the cost, quality and product but also in terms of efficiency and productivity, he said.
Shri Paswan emphasized that the global trade in steel industry has doubled in the last five years. If one deducts the raw material costs, the cost of production in real terms has fallen in most places due to technological advances made possible by an easy flow of technology across the globe. Globalization has led to proper identification of the competitive advantages within the country and across the regions setting up conditions for competitive growth. This has led to a better economic and competitive use of the raw materials and human resources, he said.
SMK/SAK
(Release ID :17725)