India’s Ministry of Steel has come down heavily on Ircon Limited, the government-owned construction arm of national transporter Indian Railways (IR), for violating government policy on steel imports, which gives protection to domestic steel producers, a government official said on Wednesday, August 7.
The official said that the Ministry of Steel had taken “serious exception” to Ircon sourcing 2,100 mt of head-hardened steel rails from Austria and planning to float another import tender to source 4,900 mt of the same product from overseas steel producers next year.
Under the new government policy entitled, Domestically Manufactured Iron and Steel Products Policy, government agencies and government-run companies have to offer preference to domestic producers for all their steel sourcing and exception has to be sought from the Ministry of Steel if specific steel products are not readily available from the domestic steel industry.
“The placement of an order by Ircon and further planned sourcing through an import tender without seeking specific exemptions from the Ministry of Steel went against the spirit of the domestic steel sourcing policy of the government as approved by the Cabinet of Ministers,” the official said, quoting from the minutes of a meeting held by the Ministry of Steel.