The
Meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative
Committee Attached to the Ministry of Steel and Mines was held under the Chairmanship of the
Union Minister of Steel and Mines Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in Bengaluru,
Karnataka on 7th July 2015.
Welcoming the members of
the Consultative Committee on Ministry of Steel and Mines, in the garden city
of Bengaluru to discuss on the R&D in Indian Steel sector and Enhancing
Exploration, Shri Tomar said, so far India was the 4th largest steel producer
in the world only after China, Japan and the US. However, during the first five
months of this calendar year, India has achieved the 3rd position in the global
steel production. He elaborated that Indian steel industry is growing at a
reasonably good pace and last year the growth in crude steel production in
India is more than 8%. However, per capita steel consumption is quite low, 60
Kg as against the world average of 216 kg. The low consumption no doubt
indicates huge growth potential for Indian steel industry. India has fixed a
target of 300 million tonnes production capacity by 2025 and steel ministry is
working out action plan and strategies to achieve this target, he informed the
members.
Shri Tomar further said,
Indian steel industry is already in expansion mode. The older steel plants are
being modernized and expended. New green field plants are also coming with
state of the art technologies. He told the members that very recently the
Prime Minister dedicated the India’s largest Blast Furnace of 4160 Cubic Meter,
installed at IISCO Steel plant at Burnpur and several Blast Furnaces of around 4000
Cubic Meter with world class efficiency parameters are in the operation in the
country.
On Research and
Development to sustain the long term growth of the Indian steel industry, he
said the problems in raw material area need to be addressed to utilize low
grade ore and high ash coal through R&D and technology interventions. He
stressed the need to pursue R&D for development of value added products for
which we are dependent on import. Secondary steel sector is also requiring
R&D interventions, he said. “We have also issued an advisory to all the
large steel companies to step up R&D and enhance R&D investment up to
1% of their sales turnover. SAIL has corporate R&D center at Ranchi. RINL
is also expending R&D infrastructure. Large private sector companies have
also setup good R&D facilities for addressing their problems,” the Minister
informed the members.
‘Ministry of Steel is
facilitating for setting up of a new institution SRTMI and is contributing 50%
in the corpus of SRTMI to spear head R&D of national importance.
In-principle approval for setting up of SRTMI has been given and CEOs of major
Indian Steel Companies have signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Ministry of
Steel for participation and financial contribution in the initiative with an
initial corpus of Rs 200 crore. Indian iron and steel industry will meet the
set target of steel production of 300 million tonne by 2025 by developing new
path breaking technology and using of Indian raw materials through R&D at
pilot/ demonstration scale’, Shri Tomar explained.
Addressing the meeting
of the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Steel and Mines to discuss
Research and Development in iron and steel sector in India, Shri Rakesh Singh
Secretary Steel said the ministry is facilitating growth and development of
steel industry through various policy measures. The Ministry of Steel has fixed
a target to increase steel production capacity to 300 million tonne by 2025.
The target is no doubt is very ambitious and Ministry of Steel is taking follow
up action in this regards. Several plants have already been expanded and SAIL
is in the process of modernizing and expending its capacity from the present
level of 12.8 million Tonne to 21.4 million tonne. He informed that R&D
scenario in steel sector is improving. More dedicated Research and Technology
Development programs would however, be required and we are targeting that the
steel companies must spend 1% of their sales turnover on R&D to amply and
meet the requirements of make in India program through zero defect and zero
effect.
The Secretary Mines Shri
Balvender Kumar informed the members that the Mines and Minerals (Development
and Regulation) (Amendment) Act, 2015 became necessary to address the emergent
problems in the mining industry. The Amendment removes discretion in the grant
of mineral concessions. All mineral concessions are granted by the respective
State Governments now through auctions, thereby bringing in greater
transparency and removing discretion. This should also mean that the Government
will get an increased share from the mining sector. He said, the Amendment Act
2015 makes it mandatory to establish a District Mineral Foundation (DMF) in all
districts where mining takes place. Contribution to the DMF of an amount not
exceeding one-third of the royalty rate in so far as new concessions to be
granted by auction are concerned and not exceeding the royalty in respect of
existing concessions has been provided for. Talking about exploration, Shri
Balvender Kumar said, Indian mining industry has not seen the type of
exploration as in other countries. To address this, the Amendment Act has
provided for a National Mineral Exploration Trust created out of contribution
from the mining lease holders. This would allow the Government to have a dedicated
fund for undertaking exploration. National Mineral Exploration Trust is being
set up for providing impetus to exploration in mining sector. In addition, the
transferability provision (in respect of Mining Leases to be granted through
auction) would permit flow of greater investment to the sector and increasing efficiency in mining.
On Stringent provisions
against illegal mining, he said, all offences under the Act will now be subject
to a maximum punishment of 5 years imprisonment or fine of Rs. 5.00 lakhs per
hectare.
Shri Vishnu Deo Sai,
Minister of State in the Ministry Of Steel and Mines was also present in the
meeting.
The Members of Lok Sabha
who attended the meeting and provided their suggestions included
Dr. Anupam Hazra
Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato
Shri Bodh Singh Bhagat
Shri Janardan Singh
Sigriwal
Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey
Sardar Sher Singh
Ghubaya
Shri Shyama Charan Gupta
And the Members of Rajya
Sabha who attended the meeting and participated in discussions included
Smt. Gundu Sudharani
Shri Husain Dalwai
Shri Tapan Kumar Sen
Shri V. Hanumantha Rao
Highlights:
• India is the
4th largest steel producer with Production: 88.25 MT in 2014-15.
• In the first
5 months of 2015, India has become the 3rd largest steel producer.
• India is on
track to emerge as the 2nd largest steel producer soon.
• Per Capita
steel consumption in India is about 60 kg against world average of 216 kg.
Justifies higher growth potential.
• India has
set target of production capacity of 300 MT by year 2025.
• Enhanced
R&D investments & adoption of new technologies are imperative for
competitiveness of Indian steel industry.
YSKataria