The steel ministry has firmed up a plan to bring all steel grades consumed in the country – whether domestically manufactured or imported – under strict quality control norms, official sources said. The move is with the twin objectives of improving the quality of infrastructure and assorted hardware manufactured in the country, and putting curbs on cheap imports that hit domestic producers across the steel value chain.
The plan, once implemented, will bring 1,000 more grades of steel under the quality control order (QCO), in addition to 1,376 items currently under the norms.
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The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) formulates standards for steel. The steel ministry issues QCO, which mandates that only quality steel conforming to the relevant BIS standard notified under QCO is produced in the country and imported from outside. Steel grades not yet covered by BIS standards are imported with a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the steel ministry.
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A steel ministry official said, “We are trying that in the next one year, we can bring all the grades which are there, under BIS standards, so that poor quality steel does not get imported. It works both ways – to regulate imports as well as to ensure the quality of the products. So that is the one non-tariff barrier we are working on. These are also part of the measures we are taking to ensure our industry remains competitive.”
Ritabrata Ghosh, vice president and sector head, corporate sector ratings, ICRA said, “If the government decides to broad-base the coverage of steel grades in the Quality Control order, in my view, it can act as a temporary speed breaker for bringing down imports from the prevailing run-rate of about one million tonne per month.”
Ghosh said the move’s impact could wither away with time, as importers could get the necessary BIS certifications in a few months. So, the durability of such non-tariff barriers remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, at the end of November,
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