Govt watching cheap steel imports; decision on import duty soon

NEW DELHI: The government is keeping a close vigil on the steel being dumped in the domestic market and on its impact on the industry before taking a decision on imposing duty on cheap imports.

As of now, there is no substantial evidence of a massive spurt in steel imports, but measures would be definitely taken if foreign countries try to dump the commodity in the Indian market, official sources said.

"Department of Revenue is understood to be taking stock of steel imports through different ports in the country and subsequently monitoring the prices at which the commodity is coming on a day-to-day basis," a source said.

What may further hold the imposition of import duty on steel for the time being is the fact that inflation is still hovering in double digits and contribution of the commodity to it had been over 21 per cent at one point of time, the source said.

The steel industry, however, wants government to impose 15 per cent import duty on all categories of steel to ward off the threat of cheaper imports from China, Ukraine and Thailand amid the global economic recession.

Endorsing the industry's concern, the Steel Ministry has already recommended levying 10 per cent import duty and 14 per cent countervailing duty on all categories of steel items to the Finance Ministry.

However, stating that there has been an insignificant increase in steel imports, a government official said the demand for the commodity has nosedived globally due to the financial recession and so importers in India are reluctant to procure flat steel items from abroad and do value-addition for exports.