(a) the total domestic steel production during last three years;
(b) whether the Government propose to increase the production of steel;
(c) if so, the target fixed in this regard during the Ninth Five Year Plan; plant-wise;
(d) the guidelines issued to each public sector steel plants in regard to production of steel; and
(e) the corrective steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Govt. in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR STEEL (SHRI DILIP RAY)
(a), (b) & (d): After liberalisation of the steel industry, the production of steel is driven by market forces and no guidelines are issued in this regard by the Government. The main producers of steel in the public and private sector plan their production based on their demand projection. The total domestic production of finished steel during last three years was as below:-
(in million tonnes)
1996-97 1997-98 1998-99(c) & (e): As per the projection made by the Working Group on Iron and Steel for the IX Five Year Plan set up by Planning Commission the production of finished steel will reach 38.01 million tonnes by 2001-02, the terminal year of IX Five Year Plan. To help the industry achieve the above targets, Government has taken several steps to boost the demand for steel which inter-alia include:
Finished Steel 22.72 23.37 23.82