Around 170 associations representing small, medium-size and micro-scale industrial units across India have decided to come onto a common platform to oppose the rising prices of steel and other commodities and to push for government control over prices, a statement from associations said on Thursday, June 24.
The All India Council of Associations (AICA) has already submitted petitions to the Indian state and central governments seeking immediate intervention to rein in prices of steel and other commodities to protect the economic viability of numerous small, medium and micro industrial units which are reeling from cost pressures.
The AICA, claiming to represent 200,000 such industrial units, said that the price of steel has gone up by 82.22 percent, the price of aluminium alloy by 94.34 percent, the price of pig iron by 50 percent, the price of ferrous scrap by 48 percent, and the price of copper by 110 percent since April 2020.
It said that steel producers were making profits in multiples of 10-20 times, while user industries on the small and medium scale were being forced to close down, unable to absorb higher prices of steel inputs.
In its communication to the governments, the AICA demanded that all steel producers led by government-run Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) should publish prices of flat and long products on a quarterly basis and that prices should be maintained during each quarter.
At the same time, it demanded that government steel producers like SAIL and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) should reserve at least 40 percent of their finished steel production for supplies to industrial units categorized as small, medium and micro.