Question : MEASURES TO IMPROVE THE PRODUCTION OF STEEL

MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF STEEL (SHRI BRAJA KISHORE TRIPATHY)


(a) Year-wise and plant-wise details of production of saleable steel by the public sector steel plants during the last three years are given below:

Unit in `000 T 
Plant	1999-2000	2000-2001	20001-2002+
Bhilai Steel Plant	3411	3307	1584
Durgapur Steel Plant	1402	1196 752
Rourkela Steel Plant	1170	1291 630
Bokaro Steel Ltd.	3246	3313	1474
Alloy Steel Plant 83 79 46
Salem Steel Plant 148 129 31.2
Visvesvaraya Iron& Steel Plant 69 85 40.8
Indian Iron and Steel Company 250 277 131
Vishakhapatnam Steel Plant	2382	2507	2757
Tata Iron & Steel Co. (TISCO)	3287	3430	3630
+	Production figures are for the period April-September, 2001 except for Vishakhapatnam	Steel Plant for which production figures are for the full year.

(b)&(c): The Government does not exercise any control over production of steel in the country. The production targets are determined by the individual steel plants keeping in view their capacity and the market demand for different type of products. However, it is expected that domestic production would increase in response to the increase in consumption levels as a result of various initiatives undertaken by the Government. These are
(i) constitution of a National Campaign Committee to promote steel consumption through development of markets especially in the rural areas,
(ii) encouraging usage of steel in new application areas such as grain storage systems, crash barriers in highways and expressways,
(iii) providing financial support to R&D venture in iron and steel sector to reduce production cost,
(iv) constitution of a Committee to augment use of domestic steel in the automobile sector.
(v) organising seminars for dissemination of knowledge on the use of steel and
(vi) setting up of service centres to supply products as per the specific needs of the consumers.

(d)&(e): There has not been any general decline in the quality of steel being produced in the country. Many of the steel plants have adopted latest technologies. This has helped improve quality of steel and reduce cost of production to become more competitive with other steel plants of the world. The Government has also been encouraging R&D activities with financial assistance from Steel Development Fund.