Click to play videoNew Delhi: Don’t interfere in steel pricing, focus on improving production: that is the message from steel makers have sent to the Government.
A tonne of steel in India is Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 cheaper than international rates. But steel makers say when the deadline for the cap on prices expires on August 7 they may consider a hike.
“The steel industry has done its bit but now it is finding itself in an unnatural situation where steel which is coming into the country is at a much higher price than what it is ruling in the country. It almost looks as if the Government's policies are encouraging companies sitting overseas,” says S K Roongta, chairperson of Tata Steel.
Roongta’s deputy too agreed that the time had come for steel companies to revise their prices. “The intervention (to control price) was on a limited basis but that was a one-time measure under special circumstances. We will review the situation after this three-month period expires,” says B Muthuraman, managing director of Tata Steel.
The Government is in no mood to ease up on steel makers though. Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said he had not decided on whether companies would be allowed to raise prices.
“We have not decided either way that we will ask for holding it (prices) for more time but if the increase is unjustified or contributes to inflation and if there is a way not to increase it we will certainly talk to them," says Paswan.
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