Lok Sabha Question No. 2798 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-03
Subject: Potential Utilisation of Iron and Steel
Ministry: STEEL
Asked by: Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Girish Bhalchandra Bapat, Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Pritam Gopinath Munde

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF STEEL

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2798 FOR ANSWER ON 03/08/2022

## POTENTIAL UTILISATION OF IRON AND STEEL

2798. SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU: SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT: SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE: DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE:

Will the Minister of STEEL be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  potential  utilisation  of  iron  and  steelis  very  low  in  the  country;
- (b) if so, the facts and the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the per capita labour productivity inIndia is at 90-100 tonnes which is one of the lowest inthe world;
- (d) if so, the facts and the response of theGovernment in this regard;
- (e)  whether  there  is  an  urgent  need  to  increase  theproduction  to  save  precious foreign exchange; and
- (f)  if  so,  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  toimprove  the  situation  along  with  the result achieved sofar in this regard?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF STEEL

(SHRI FAGGAN SINGH KULASTE)

(a)& (b): Details of overall capacity, production and capacity utilization of crude steel in India during the last five years is given below:-

|                               | Crude Steel (in million ton)   | Crude Steel (in million ton)   | Crude Steel (in million ton)   |
|-------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| Year                          | Capacity                       | Production                     | Capacity Utilization (%)       |
| 2017-18                       | 137.97                         | 103.13                         | 75                             |
| 2018-19                       | 142.24                         | 110.92                         | 78                             |
| 2019-20                       | 142.30                         | 109.14                         | 77                             |
| 2020-21                       | 143.91                         | 103.54                         | 72                             |
| 2021-22                       | 154.06                         | 120.29                         | 78                             |
| Source: Joint Plant Committee | Source: Joint Plant Committee  | Source: Joint Plant Committee  | Source: Joint Plant Committee  |

(c)&(d): The  labour  productivity  varies  from  plant  to  plant  depending  upon  the technology,  level  of  integration,  efficiency,  extent  of  outsourcing  etc.  and,  therefore,  interplant  and  inter-country  comparisons  may  not  necessarily  reflect  the  efficiency  in  use  of human  resources.  Labour  productivity  is  an  operational  and  management  issue  which depends on technology, operational practices, cost of capitals etc. The government has no direct role in raising labour productivity in the steel plants. Being a deregulated sector with 901 players, the per capita labour productivity increases by better practices by the sector.

(e)&(f): The increase in production of crude steel in the past five years is as given in the table above. Further, India has been a net exporter of steel in recent years as there has been increase in exports and decrease in imports of steel. The details of import and export of finished steel during last three years are given below:-

| Year                                           | Crude Steel (mt)                               | Finished Steel (mt)                            | Finished Steel (mt)                            |
|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
|                                                | Production                                     | Import                                         | Export                                         |
| 2019-20                                        | 109.14                                         | 6.77                                           | 8.36                                           |
| 2020-21                                        | 103.54                                         | 4.75                                           | 10.78                                          |
| 2021-22                                        | 120.29                                         | 4.67                                           | 13.49                                          |
| Source: Joint Plant Committee, mt= million ton | Source: Joint Plant Committee, mt= million ton | Source: Joint Plant Committee, mt= million ton | Source: Joint Plant Committee, mt= million ton |

Government  has  taken  the  following  steps  to  protect  and  promote  the  domestic  steel industry, which include:-

- i. Notification  of  National  Steel  Policy  2017  which  envisages,  inter-alia,  domestically meeting the entire demand of steel and high-grade automotive steel, electrical steel, special steel and alloys for strategic applications
- ii. Notification of Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) Policy for promoting procurement of Made in India steel.
- iii. Notification  of  Steel  Import  Monitoring  System  (SIMS)  for  advanced  registration  of steel imports.
- iv. Issuance  of  Steel  Quality  Control  Order  to  stop  manufacturing  and  import  of  nonstandardized steel.

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