Commerce and Steel Ministry gathers to make steel manufacturing sector competitive
Published: Jun 11, 2019
By TIOLCORPLAWS News Service
NEW DELHI, JUNE 11, 2019: Mr Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways and Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Steel Minister, today held a meeting with the steel industry representatives. The meeting was organised to discuss the challenges that are faced by the steel sector and the import-export trends. Both the Ministers assured the steel industry that Ministries of Commerce& Industry and Steel will make all efforts to ensure that engineering goods exports double in the next 5 years and reach USD 200 billion by 2030.
The objective is not only boost India's exports but also to generate jobs in the manufacturing sector especially the MSME sector. Although India is the second largest manufacturers of steel but India is also a net importer of steel. Representatives of the steel industry and the Engineering Export Councils discussed in detail with Commerce and Steel Ministers the protectionist measures being imposed by other countries and the under-utilised capacity in steel manufacturing in India.
Both the ministers discussed at length the measures that both Commerce and Industry and Steel Ministry may take, both tariff and non-tariff, to reduce unnecessary imports and boost exports. The MSME sector steel manufacturers urged steel producers to supply raw material at concessional prices so that the MSME sector can compete in international markets.
Alongwith Mr. Piyush Goyal and Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, the meeting was attended by Mr. Faggansingh Kulaste, MoS Steel, Secretary Steel, Binoy Kumar, Secretary Commerce, Anup Wadhawan, DGFT, Alok Vardhan Chaturvedi, senior officers of Department of Commerce and Steel Ministry, Chairman SAIL, all members of EEPCs, Indian Steel Association, steel makers and manufacturers and other associations of the steel sector.