STEEL MINISTER ASKS SPONGE IRON
INDUSTRY TO SUSTAIN GROWTH
Sponge
Iron Industry is of stragetic importance for the iron and steel
industry in the country. Over the years, being a substitute for
imported scrap, it has saved a large amount of foreign exchange
spent for acquiring scrap. Since 2001, India has maintained the
position as the world's largest sponge iron producer in the world.
The Government is ready to extend all possible help for this vital
segment of the steel industry, said the Minister for Steel Shri
Braja Kishore Tripathy addressing the Annual General Body
meeting of the Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association (SIMA) here
today. The industry on its part should also take appropriate steps
to ensure that its growth is sustained.
The Minister
hailed the role of the Association, whose initiatives have made
the industry bloom amidst many constraints. India produced 6.9
million tonnes of sponge iron during 2002-03 with a growth of
22 per cent over the previous year. India is also the largest
coal based sponge iron producer in the world accounting for 77
per cent of the total coal based sponge iron production. The minister
was happy that some integrated steel plants have started charging
sponge iron in their blast furnaces and have reported enhanced
blast furnace productivity. The Minister emphasised on cost effective
and high quality output.
The Secretary,
Steel, Shri V.K.Duggal said that to address the iron ore related
problems of the sector, the Steel Ministry has constituted a committee
with the representatives of ministry of Mines, secretaries of
the concerned state governments,
iron ore producers, Federation of Indian Mineral Industry and
SIMA. He said that efforts would be made to augment supply, taking
care of operational and transportation bottlenecks. But in the
long run, there is need to open new mines both in private and
the public sector. He said that the Ministry's objective is to
meet the needs of domestic producers on priority basis.
Regarding the shortage
of non-coking coal Shri Duggal suggested that sponge iron units
should either alone or as a consortium set up coal washeries to
beneficiate the inferior coal to make it usable. The other option,
he said is imports. The Ministry of Steel is in consultation with
the Ministry of Finance and Coal to ensure rationalisation of
customs duties of non-coking coal to facilitate imports. He also
proposed to take up with the Ministry of Coal the possibility
of allocation of captive coal block to a consortium of 3-4 small
sponge iron units to meet coal requirement. Regarding inadequate
availability of natural gas and its price rise, he said that Steel
Ministry has been taking all steps with the Ministry of Petroleum
and Natural Gas in this regard. It is learnt that a Tariff Commission
for gas pricing is on the anvil which would act as an independent
arbiter on pricing issues of natural gas.
Shri Ashok Pandit,
Managing Director, Tata Sponge Iron Limited and Shri P.R.Dhariwal,
Executive director, Essar Steel Ltd. made presentations on Iron
Ore and Coal and Gas Based Sponge Iron Industry.
