Secondary steel makers in Punjab have demanded a roll-back of the Steel Ministry’s quality control order, which makes it compulsory to produce Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certified steel items from September this year.
Upset over the new mandatory ISI certification, industry opined that new quality control order would hit the small steel makers hard as it would breed corruption and harassment, besides leading to hike in steel rates.
“We have urged the Ministry of Steel to withdraw this quality control order otherwise it will lead to closure of small units, corruption and hike in steel rates,” the Confederation of Indian Steel Producers Association (CISPA) Chairman, Mr Vinod Vashisht, said on Thursday.
The Ministry has made it mandatory for secondary steel makers and rerolling mills to produce ISI certified construction steel like TMT bars, plates and rods from September 12 this year, he said.
In Punjab, there are over 150 rerolling mills spread in Mandi Gobindgarh, Khanna and Ludhiana which are engaged into manufacturing of various kind of iron and steel items for construction and light engineering sector.
“It is very difficult to produce certified steel in the absence of proper infrastructure required for the same,” said Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations President, Mr Badish Jindal.
Moreover, he said, “It is very difficult for rolling mills to maintain BIS standard as their main raw material is either rerollable steel or ingot produced from local furnaces.”
Describing the inclusion of steel products in the mandatory list as unwarranted, industry accused the big steel producers of pushing behind the implementation of quality control order and said it would be highly counterproductive for industrial growth.
“The BIS certification becoming mandatory for secondary steel makers is the result of conspiracy hatched by big steel producers to threaten the existence of small businesses,” said Mr Jindal, who is also a member of National Board of MSME.
As secondary steel producers contribute 70 per cent of steel items like bars, the implementation of quality control order will hinder the supply of steel items for use in infrastructure development, said Mr Vashisht.
The steel produced by secondary steel makers is cheaper by Rs 4,000 tonne to 8,000 tonne in comparison to steel produced by big companies.