India can compete with China if it makes quality steel
Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh said that producing quality steel could help India compete with China, even though China's total production is around 8-9 times that of India. He was speaking at the Indian Steel Association (ISA) Steel Conclave in the capital. Singh said that despite having brilliant engineers and scientists, India wasn't leading innovation in steel technology. "Updating technology is not innovation," he said. This would help reduce the import bill of an estimated $28 billion that is required to expand capacity to 300 million tonnes from the existing 135 million tonnes by 2030. He said that innovation was the solution to the input costs that have risen for steel makers who import raw materials. He said the industry needed to come up with alternatives to imported materials like coking coal. Responding to news about a recent report that stated that 18 out of 24 steel bar brands had failed quality tests, Singh said that the introduction of BSI standards in steel would take care of this problem, because only brands meeting standards could participate in government tenders.
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