Steel industry calls for safeguard measures to protect local players

Time of India

4 days ago

New Delhi: Calling for protectionist measures to check cheap
steel imports
,
Jindal Stainless
Managing Director Abhyuday
Jindal
on Thursday said that the country has sufficient steel production capacity to meet the local demand.
Jindal also said that in addition to the US and Europe, countries with very low steel production are also adopting protective measures.
It is very important to protect "our country," Jindal said while addressing an
Indian Chamber of Commerce
's event here.
"The US has done it, Europe has been doing it for quite some time. Now, nations like in the Middle East, where there is not much steel production, Canada, where there isn't much steel production, are also going for some kind of protectionist measures," Jindal, who is also the President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, said.
Jindal also appreciated the steps taken by the government to safeguard the interest of the domestic
steel industry
.
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"There was substandard, Chinese material coming in (through) from Vietnam...Our government is taking a clear view, there is enough capacity in the country, we can produce any kind of grade, any kind of quality that is required," he said.
As per industry estimates, India's installed stainless steel capacity stands at 7.5 MT, with a current utilisation of about 60 per cent, indicating significant potential for ramp-up, provided the right policy environment and demand momentum are sustained. As domestic capacities are lying idle and 30 per cent of the consumption is still coming from imports, investment in stainless steel is bound to get impacted, Jindal said.
India's stainless steel imports rose to 1.73 million tonnes in FY25, with China, Indonesia, Vietnam and South Korea being the major contributors, as per the market research firm BigMint.
Jindal also advocated for a separate
National Stainless Steel policy
and taxonomy to promote the interests of the stainless steel sector.
The government had released a National Steel Policy for the steel sector in 2017. In December 2024, Union Steel Minister H D Kumaraswamy released a 'taxonomy on
green steel
' for the steel industry with parameters for giving star ratings on products based on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted during the production process.