Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 25 (ANI): Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal asked domestic industry to prefer domestic suppliers over imports, speaking at the India Steel 2025 summit.
“You should see your supply chains. Wherever there is an Indian supply, you will give preference to that Indian supply, and not conveniently import your requirements to the detriment of some other Indian company or manufacturer,” the minister said.
India this week imposed a temporary 12 per cent safeguard duty to protect domestic steel industry from dumping and to curb unwanted imports.
The minister highlighted an instance where the government had asked the industry to support Indian metcoke manufacturers, but the industry did not paid heed to the request. As a result, the metcoke industry died down, he said.
“Like you need protection from low quality steels being imported into the country at irrational prices, you have a duty and obligation to support your supply chain. And I hope this message goes down deep.”
A few dollars saved now may hurt the industry later, he said.
“We must be self-reliant today. Even the advanced countries are talking of self-reliance, are talking of, are talking of reshoring, of getting back manufacturing into their countries. It’s a wake up call for all of us. We will have to support each other and make resilient supply chains,” he said.
Further, he requested the industry to blow whistle in case any steel makers import raw materials and subsequently re-export them by branding it as Made in India steel
“At no point in time will we allow India to become a route for transhipment or for breaking the rules of origin so that other countries bring material into India, do some little bit of processing and supply it to a third country, calling it a Made in India product,” Piyush Goyal said.
India today is the second largest producer of steel.
The National Steel Policy, has set a target of producing 300 million tons of steel by 2030. The current per capita steel consumption in India is approximately 100 kilograms and is expected to rise to 160 kilograms by 2030.
In his address today, Piyush Goyal also said he is actively working to give Indian steel access to countries and blocks of countries where India is currently working on a free trade agreement (FTA).
“I’m working on at least 10 or 12 free trade agreements with countries or bloc of countries like the EU, which will mean 27 countries within one block, and in every one of them we are working to see how we can get greater access for our cost-effective and high-quality steel sector,” Goyal told the industry members.
The expansion of railway network, airport network, ports, highways, and expressways brings new opportunities for the steel industry, said the minister. (ANI)
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