Government not considering more steps to check steel import: Nirmala Sitharaman

NEW DELHI: The Commerce and Industry Ministry is not in favour of more steps to check import of cheaper steel.

"We have imposed minimum import price (MIP) and at the moment, I am not looking into specifics. If the steel ministry is looking into it, we will have to wait and hear from them," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today told reporters.

She was replying to a question on whether the ministry is considering more steps to deal with the problem of cheap steel import.

In February, the government imposed MIP on 173 steel products ranging between USD 341 to USD 752 per tonne (nearly Rs 23,065.24-50,865.28) to give relief to domestic steel producers against cheap in-bound shipments.

The MIP will remain in place for six months only. The government has also imposed a safeguard duty on certain steel products.