India beats Japan to become world’s second largest steel producer -Governance Now

India beats Japan to become world’s second largest steel producer

Steel minister lays emphasis on the need of safety in the production of iron and steel

GN Bureau | January 29, 2019

#steel producer #India #Japan #iron #steel #Chaudhary Birender Singh #SAIL #RINL #OMDC

Steel minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has India has become the second largest producer of steel in the world leaving behind Japan and the USA.

He said when comparing the country’s per capita consumption of steel vis-a-vis the world consumption level which is 214 kg per capita, India has a long way to go. He said before 2014, India’s per capita consumption of steel stood at 57 kg which has now increased to 69 kg per capita.

Singh was chairing the parliamentary consultative committee meeting in Goa recently.

He laid emphasised on the need of safety in the production of iron and steel. The minister recognised the need to prevent injuries and accidents and for providing a healthy working environment and mitigating hazards and risks, he has decided to set up a safety directorate to oversee safety standards in the steel industry. It will be made functional soon. Singh said both the SAIL and the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) have comprehensive safety policies.

On the issue of mining, the steel minister said by 2020, large number of the mining leases will expire, which the ministry has taken cognizance of and is taking measures to tackle it. The mining activity of Orissa Minerals Development Company Limited (OMDC), a CPSE of steel ministry, is shut for the past few years and efforts are also on to make OMDC mine operational.

The minister said the National Steel Policy 2017 envisages steel capacity of 300 million tonne (MT) which will be affected if mining activities are not smooth. He also said besides the existing mines, there is a need to focus on exploration of new mines.

He said along with National Steel Policy formulated in 2017, the policy for domestically manufactured iron and steel products has also been finalised to give preference to domestically produced steel. This has given impetus to the Make in India initiative and has also led to savings of around Rs 8,000 crore.

He further said the National Scrap Policy is also being formulated which will be ready in a few months. This will make available nearly 7 MT scrap in the country. Presently the requirement of scrap is around 8.3 MT and most of it is met with scrap imports. He said that steel produced out of scrap is of good quality and is environment friendly.

Comments

Other News

“Cancer is just a mind game”

Dr. Ananda Shankar Jayant, a Padma Shri awardee, inspired audiences for decades through her mastery of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. But it was her journey through cancer that taught some of life`s most powerful lessons in courage and resilience.

Why Swami Vivekananda is the pathfinder for our times

Swami Vivekananda for Our Times Edited and compiled by Rajiv Sikri, with Introduction by S. Gurumurthy Rupa Publications, 552 pages, Rs 695

Five ways to realise the potential of India’s handicraft and handloom sector

India`s economic ambitions are increasingly defined by the industries of the future. Semiconductors, electronics, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing dominate policy conversations. Yet one of India`s largest employment-intensive sectors continues to occupy a surprisingly marginal place in ec

Beyond toilets: Why open defecation persists in rural India

Despite the awareness campaigns on sanitation across India, open defecation (OD) is practised openly and widely in both rural and urban areas. Research shows that rural respondents are well aware of the negative impacts of OD, yet this awareness does not lead to toilet construction or use. In rural North I

What unpaid nation builders want from policymakers

The Supreme Court recently described homemakers as “nation builders” and fixed a notional monthly income of Rs 30,000 for them in motor accident compensation cases. The judgment was not about wages. It was about compensation. Yet it inadvertently raised a larger economic question: If a homemake

What the US–Iran peace deal means for India

After months of rising tensions, the United States and Iran have reached a memorandum of understanding called the "Islamabad Agreement." This agreement allows for the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz without tolls and provides Iran with relief from sanctions, depending on its complianc