Steel industry leaders need to focus on being export-centric: Pradhan

• Steel industry plays a big role in infra development that opens the door of $5 Trillion economy for India, said Pradhan

• Pradhan was speaking in a webinar on "New opportunities for steel in construction and infrastructure," organised by Indian Steel Association

New Delhi: Union Minister of Steel and Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday addressed a webinar on "New opportunities for steel in construction and infrastructure," organised by Indian Steel Association. Speaking on the occasion Pradhan exhorted the steel industry leaders to focus on making the industry export-centric and fulfil global requirements too. He said, "Aatmanirbhar Bharat and being 'Vocal for local" is all about creating a robust domestic market and going beyond fulfilling the domestic requirement to reach the global markets. PPE manufacturing during Covid-19 time is a case in point in which India went from being a net importer to exporting PPEs to the world. Our inherent capacity in vaccine production is another such example. Our steel sector is perfectly poised to become more vibrant, globally competitive and export-centric."

Speaking about infrastructure creation, Pradhan said, "Prime Minister has set a target to make India a $ 5 trillion economy. Infrastructure development will play a key role in this journey. Our government is focusing on creating a modern infrastructure for the 21st century. Whether it is roads, railways, housing or oil and gas, every sector is seeing infrastructure creation at an unprecedented pace. The Rs. 20 lakh crore Aatmanirbhar package gives special stress on the infrastructure sector. All these augurs well for the steel sector."

The minister also said that steel can be a catalyst for the well-being of people and making it a material of choice will bring greater strength to society.

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The Minister of State for Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste said that steel usage per capita in the country is about one-third of the global average. He emphasised that there is an urgent need to bridge this gap and take steel usage in the country to the next level. There should be greater awareness on steel usage and a concerted drive to raise steel usage in rural areas which will bring greater strength to society, he added."Our Government has sanctioned Rs 6,322 crore for production linked incentive scheme (PLI) for speciality steel. I hope that the Indian Steel Association will work on greater value addition and focus on speciality steel to bring in greater self-reliance in the steel sector," he said.

Senior officers from the Ministry of Steel, subject experts, industry leaders, academicians, researchers, large users and regulators also participated in the webinar. This one is the second edition of a webinar organised by the Indian Steel Association.

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