India’s Ministry of Steel will initiate a multi-pronged exercise for the countrywide extension of concessional electricity tariffs to secondary steel producers using the electric furnace route, a government official said on Friday, November 30.
The official said that the ministry will start consultation with its counterparts at the Ministry of Power and with electricity regulatory commissions in the different states in India so that a uniform concessional tariff may be provided to secondary steel producers, such as is already being offered by some states like Chhattisgarh.
At the same time, the ministry will ensure that the offer for concessional power tariffs is over a long term instead of keeping it applicable for short periods of one or two years, which negatively impacts the costs of secondary steel producers, the official said.
The countrywide concessional electricity tariff will be in line with the Ministry of Steel’s policy to promote scrap-based steel plants and catalyze the growth of a "green, environmental and sustainable" process of steelmaking, the official added.
According to the official, a concessional uniform electricity tariff will also ensure the growth and dispersal of secondary steel production closer to consumption centers.