Steel Secretary, D.R.S.Choudhary, has said the steel demand in the country continues to be strong and expansion projects are on track.
Speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of a regional conclave on Essentiality of a Sustainable Business, he said there is no shortage of iron ore required for steel making but the prices have come down globally.
"There is no problem with production of steel. The steel production is demand driven. It is wrong to say production has come down. There may be a slump in international market," he said.
He said that brownfield expansion projects are happening as per schedule with SAIL alone investing about Rs 75,000 crore for expansion of its manufacturing capacity. Tata Steel too is expanding capacity by 10 million tonnes per annum.
"I believe we will be able to achieve the production target we have set out. There is no need to revisit the production target set out," he said.
The small and medium steel companies need to conform to BIS quality norms to remain competitive.
Referring to prices of iron ore and steel, he said since these are de-regulated, their prices are market driven. The Government does not interfere in this, he added.
rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in
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