The Indian Ministry of Steel has appointed a committee on raw material linkages for steel companies so that domestic steel mills can get secured raw materials at internationally competitive prices, Indian government officials said on Wednesday, February 28.
The committee will also look into the legal options for closed mines in the eastern state of Odisha being taken over, at least for a certain period of time, the officials said. This will not only ensure that workers engaged in the mines remain employed and prevent social upheavals from possible long-term unemployment, the temporary resumption of production from the mines will also ensure that steel mills’ raw material supplies are not disrupted.
Related to this, Indian steel minister Chaudhury Birendra Singh in an address on Tuesday, February 27, cautioned that, while India will reach its targeted steel production of 300 million mt per year by 2030, raw material linkages will have to be established for domestic steel mills to be globally competitive and the linkage committee is working to ensure this along with the "long-term predictability of raw material prices”.
Pointing out that to achieve steel production of 300 million mt per year, domestic steel mills will need an estimated 437 million mt of ore, India’s competitiveness in availability of the raw material will also have to be matched by competitiveness in the price of the raw material supplies, Mr. Singh said.