•  National steel policy which aims to achieve steelmaking capacity of 300 million tonnes by 2030 with an additional investment of Rs 10 lakh crore has been cleared by the cabinet.

Main highlights of the policy

• The policy makes it mandatory to give preference to domestically manufactured iron and steel products (DMI&SP) in government procurement. The policy is applicable to all government tenders where price bid is yet to be opened.
• The NSP enshrines a long-term vision to give impetus to the steel sector. It seeks to boost domestic steel consumption and ensure high quality steel production and create a technologically advanced and globally competitive steel industry.
• The policy projects crude steel capacity of 300 mt, production of 255 mt and robust finished steel per capita consumption of 158 kg by 2030-31, as against the current use of 61 kg.
• The policy also envisages domestically meeting the entire demand of high-grade automotive steel, electrical steel, special steels and alloys for strategic applications and increasing domestic availability of washed coking coal so as to reduce import dependence on coking coal from about 85 per cent to around 65 per cent by 2030-31.
• Thrust areas in the policy include raw material securitisation, import substitution, increasing production efficiency and enhancing steel consumption.
• The potential of the MSME steel sector has been recognised, too. As per the policy, adoption of energy efficient technologies in the MSME steel sector will be encouraged to improve overall productivity and reduce energy intensity.
• The policy envisages development of globally competitive steel manufacturing capabilities, cost-efficient production, facilitating foreign investment and asset acquisitions of raw materials.
• While implementing the policy, it puts trust in each domestic manufacturer that provides self-certification to the procuring government agency declaring that the products are domestically manufactured in terms of the value addition prescribed.
• It will not normally be the responsibility of procuring agency to verify the correctness of the claim. In a few cases, the onus of demonstrating the correctness of the same will be on the bidder when asked to do so.
• In case any manufacturer is aggrieved, a grievance redressal committee set up under the steel ministry will dispose of the complaint in four weeks.
• There are provisions in the policy for waivers to all such procurements where specific grades of steel are not manufactured in the country or the quantities as per the demand of the project cannot be met through domestic sources.

Analysis:

• The policy is designed to promote growth and development of the domestic steel Industry and reduce the inclination to use low quality, low cost imported steel in government-funded projects. It shall be the responsibility of every government agency to ensure implementation of the policy.
• Steel is one of the most important products in the modern world and forms the backbone to any industrial economy. India being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and steel finding its extensive application right from construction, infrastructure, power, aerospace and industrial machinery to consumer products, the sector is of strategic importance to the country.
• The Indian steel sector has grown exponentially over the past few years to be the third largest producer of steel globally, contributing to about 2% of the country's GDP and employing about 5 lakh people directly and about 20 lakh people indirectly.
• Untapped potential with a strong policy support becomes the ideal platform for growth. Owing to the strategic importance of the sector along with the need to have a robust and restructured policy in present scenario, the new NSP, 2017 became imminent. Though, National Steel Policy 2005 (NSP 2005) sought to indicate ways and means of consolidating the gains flowing out of the then economic order and charted out a road map for sustained and efficient growth of the Indian steel industry, it required adaptation in view of the recent developments unfolding in India and also worldwide, both on the demand and supply sides of the steel market.