The Union Minister of Steel Beni Prasad Verma has said that India needs to import small quantities of special and high valued steel, due to non/inadequate availability of the same, to meet domestic requirements. Import of Steel into India was more than export of steel for the last financial year- 2012-13 as well as for the Ist Quarter of 2013-14, the Minister said.    

The Minister said, the government has several steps to increase the steel production. He said following steps have been taken to improve steel production:-    

(i) The Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) namely Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) & NMDC are in the process of Implementing significant expansion in the crude / finished steel capacities in their respective Brownfield / Greenfield locations.    

(ii) An Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) has been set up by the Government for effective coordination and to expedite implementation of various investment projects in the steel sector.    (iii) Import of critical raw materials for steel industry such as coking coal, non-coking coal and scrap are subject to zero or very low levels of customs duty.    

(iv) To encourage domestic value addition and improve domestic iron ore availability, duty on export of iron ore has been increased to 30 per cent.    

(v) The Ministry of Steel routinely consults the industry to be apprised of the constraints to growth and recommends necessary corrective measures as and when necessary to other concerned ministries.