Cabinet Clears National Steel Policy 2017

The Cabinet has approved the National Steel Policy 2017 that envisages Rs 10 lakh crore investment to create more capacity in the steel sector. The development assumes significance as the steel sector is reeling under weak demand and rising raw material prices. The policy aims at increasing supply of domestic coking coal to cut dependence on imports by half and production of 300 million tonnes of the alloy by 2030-31. The ministry had earlier said the policy is a step towards steering the industry to achieve its future potential and strategy to deal with various impediments like high input cost, availability of raw materials, dependency on imports, financial stress etc, it added. The policy also looks at increasing per capita steel consumption to 160 kg by 2030-31 and encouraging the industry to be a world leader on energy and raw material-efficient steel production by 2030-31 in a safe and sustainable manner. The proposed policy looks to "develop and implement quality standards for domestic steel products".