The Indian government, which is giving the finishing touches to a National Metal Recycling Policy, is working to set up multiple scrap centers across the country which will offer a fixed price to people depositing their old steel products, a government official said on Thursday, April 20.
The official said that the proposal to offer a fixed price will be a variation of the earlier proposal whereby the government proposed to offer tax incentives and rebates for automobile manufacturers for scrapping commercial and passenger vehicles beyond a specified age.
The National Institute for Transformation of India Aayog (NITI Commission), a government policy advisory body, is working on the metal recycling policy in conjunction with India’s Ministry of Steel and is expected to announce it within the next two months, the official said.
The government official also said that the policy advisory body is in favor of expanding the scope of the scrap policy beyond automobiles and include other steel consumer products and offer a flat price to those offering these as scrap.
A pre-determined price which could be periodically revised based on prevailing scrap and finished steel prices from secondary steel producers will be a “fairer option” to people wanting to dispose of used steel products like automobiles, fridges and washing machines, and will expand the sources of scrap at the same time, the official added.