Steel policy likely by year end

NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday said that a steel policy is likely to be formulated by this year end even as it constituted a high level committee to look into the issue of iron ore availability.
"We hope to put in place a Steel Policy by year end which would lay down the roadmap for development of industry", Steel Secretary V K Duggal said on the sidelines of the Sponge Iron Manufacturers'' Association meeting.
Duggal said the policy would be in the form of a vision statement for future growth of industry.
He said the committee on iron ore, which has been set up to look into the problems pertaining to ore availability for sponge iron units, would submit its findings soon.
The committee, headed by Joint Secretary (Steel) S N Dash, would comprise representatives from industry bodies, state governments besides those from the mines ministry.
Duggal said that a long term solution to problems of sponge iron units would lie in augmenting production through opening of new mines in private and public domain and by re-adjusting supply side commitments to favour domestic consumers.
In the short run, problems could be addressed by way of removing operational and transportation bottlenecks.
Duggal favoured meeting the requirements of domestic producers on a priority basis.
The ministry has also reviewed the prices of iron ore supplied by National Mineral Development Corporation and found no steep hikes.
On the issue of shortage of non coking coal, Duggal said the Steel Ministry would soon approach the Coal Ministry for allocation of captive coal blocks on consortium basis to 3-4 units to tide over the problem.
He also said the Steel Ministry was in talks with the Finance Ministry for rationalisation of import duties for non coking coal.
The Ministry has also taken up with the Petroleum Ministry provision of adequate supplies of natural gas to production units.
Steel Minister Braja Kishore Tripathi said steel production would touch 35 million tonnes this year with production already placed at a record 33 million tonnes in 2002-03.
First quarter exports grew by 37 per cent which was attributed to not just price movements but also on strong fundamentals.