Major Initiatives and Achievements

• Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) became a Maharatna company and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. (RINL) became a Navratna company during 2010.
  
• Mega Expansion Plans of SAIL, RINL & NMDC Ltd. : The Steel PSUs are in the midst of ambitious expansion plans. The major thrust of the modernization and expansion plans is to adopt the best modern technology, which in addition to being cost effective should also be energy efficient and environment friendly.
  
• Merger/acquisitions/revival/restructuring/Joint ventures of the Steel PSUs
  
• Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Ltd (MEL), the 99.12 per cent subsidiary of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), has been merged with SAIL with effect from Ist April 2010.
  
• SAIL Refractory Company Limited–a subsidiary company of SAIL for transfer of the Refractory unit of BSCL incorporated in August, 2011.
  
• SAIL- SCL Limited - Joint ventures (JV) with Government of Kerala to revive existing facilities at Steel Complex, Calicut has been effective from 30th December 2010. SAIL has formally taken over the management of the JV Company. Govt. of Kerala has been requested to expedite approval of rolling mill by JV Board.
  
• JV with Kobe Steel for ITmk3 Technology envisages installation of a 0.5 MTPA Iron Nugget plant at ASP, Durgapur. This unit will produce premium grade Iron Nuggets from iron ore fines and non-coking coal.
  
• Hajigak Iron Ore Deposits, Afghanistan: SAIL led Consortium which submitted bid in September'2011 has been alloted mining blocks B, C & D of the Hajigak Iron ore deposits (reserve of 1770 MT). The total investment estimated at US$ 10. 8 billion in phases (includes development of mine, installation of 6.12 MTPA Steel plant in two phases, 800 MW Power plant, Rail & Road infrastructure and CSR activities).
  
  
• Special Purpose Vehicle : A Joint Venture Company (JVC) called International Coal Ventures Ltd comprising of SAIL, RINL, CIL, NTPC and NMDC has been set up for acquisition of coal mines in overseas territories. The company has already initiated efforts to acquire coal properties abroad with specific countries like Australia, Mozambique, Canada, Indonesia and USA.
  
  
• Enhancing steel distribution network :
  
  
  • Public sector steel units are expanding their dealer and distributor networks to reach district centers and remote areas of the country. Presently SAIL has a total marketing network of 2700 dealers in 626 districts, 66 warehouses, 37 branch sales offices and 27 customer contact offices in the country. RINL has over 150 dealers. Private sector steel companies have also been asked to expand their distribution network to cover almost all the major districts of the country.
    
    
  • Ministry of Steel has evolved a scheme for routing the allocation of iron and steel materials from main producers like SAIL, RINL and Tata Steel to SSI units and other Government Departments through the Small Scale Industries Corporations (SSICs) and the National Small Scale Corporation (NSIC) and provides the required handling charges to the corporations so that the corporations supply the steel materials at the doorsteps of the SSI units.
    
    
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) : CSR has been identified as an important parameter in the MoUs drawn up by all the PSUs with the Ministry. CSR activities focusing on environmental care, education, health care, cultural efflorescence and peripheral development, family welfare, social initiatives and other measures are underway in the PSUs.
  
  
• Promoting R&D in Steel Sector: In order to encourage R&D activities in iron and steel sector, Ministry of Steel is providing financial assistance under the following two schemes:
  
  • Financial assistance from Steel Development Fund (SDF) under the mechanism of Empowered Committee (EC).
    
  • Financial assistance from Government Budgetary Support (GBS) under the mechanism of Project Approval and Monitoring Committee (PAMC).
    
• Assessment of steel demand: The Ministry has initiated a study to assess the steel demand in the rural areas of the country and to examine the potential of increasing the level of steel consumption. The study would cover 300 districts, 1500 villages, 4500 manufactures and 8000 retailers spread over all the 35 states and union territories of the country.
  

Disinvestment of Steel PSUs :

• Disinvestment of 10 per cent Government of India's shareholdings in MOIL (formerly Manganese Ore India Limited) has been completed. The Government earned US$ 0.12  billion by disinvestment of MOIL.
  
• In accordance with the cabinet decision, 51 per cent shareholding (i.e. 7,36,638 shares) of Government of India in Eastern Investments Company Limited (EIL) under Bird Group of Companies was transferred to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL). Thus, RINL has become the holding company of Eastern Investments Company Limited (EIL) and its subsidiaries Orissa Minerals Development Corporation (OMDC) and Bisra Stone Lime Company Ltd. (BSLC) are now subsidiaries of RINL w.e.f. 5th January 2011.

Public sector undertakings in steel Industry

1. Steel Authority of India Ltd., (SAIL), New Delhi
2. Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. (KIOCL), Bangalore
3. National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd. (NMDC), Hyderabad
4. Hindustan Steelworks Construction Ltd. (HSCL), Kolkata
5. MECON Ltd., Ranchi
6. Manganese Ore (India) Ltd. (MOIL), Nagpur
7. Sponge Iron India Ltd. (SIIL), Hyderabad
8. Bharat Refractories Ltd. (BRL), Bokaro
9. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. (RINL), Visakhapatnam
10. MSTC Ltd., Kolkata
11. Ferro Scrap Nigam Ltd. (FSNL), Bhilai, (A subsidiary of MSTC Ltd.)

Other Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)

1. Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL)
2. National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd. (NMDC)
3. Hindustan Steelworks Construction Limited (HSCL)
4. MECON Limited
5. Bharat Refractories Ltd. (BRL)
6. Manganese Ore (India) Ltd. (MOIL)
7. Sponge Iron India Ltd. (SIIL)
8. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. (RINL)
9. MSTC Ltd.
10. Ferro Scrap Nigam Limited (FSNL)

Private Sector

1. Tata Steel Ltd.
2. Essar Steel Ltd.
3. JSW Steel Ltd.
4. Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.(JSPL)
5. Ispat Industries Ltd. (IIL)
6. Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd.
7. Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd.

Policy Framework

National Steel Policy - 2005

Objective: Strategic Goal

The long-term goal of the national steel policy is that India should have a modern and efficient steel industry of world standards, catering to diversified steel demand. The focus of the policy would therefore be to achieve global competitiveness not only in terms of cost, quality and product-mix but also in terms of global benchmarks of efficiency and productivity. This will require indigenous production of over 100 million tonnes (mT) per annum by 2019-20 from the 2004-05 level of 38 mT. This implies a compounded annual growth of 7.3 percent per annum.

Strategy

A multi-pronged strategy would be adopted to move towards the long-term policy goal. On the demand side, the strategy would be to create incremental demand through promotional efforts, creation of awareness and strengthening the delivery chain, particularly in rural areas. On the supply side, the strategy would be to facilitate creation of additional capacity, remove procedural and policy bottlenecks in the availability of inputs such as iron ore and coal, make higher investments in R&D and HRD and encourage the creation of infrastructure such as roads, railways, and ports.

Full text of the policy

Useful Web links

Ministry of Steel