Chennai:
The union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh,
has said that India must take a strategic view that to
be a major exporter of finished steel and not iron ore
by the end of XI Plan period (2012). According to him,
India exports about 60 per cent of its iron-ore production
and earns over $4 billion.
Speaking
at the valedictory function of the diamond jubilee celebrations
of the Indian Institute of Metals, New Delhi he said,
"The dollar earnings are very small proportion of
overall merchandise exports but iron ore exports form
a crucial element of our bilateral trade with China. Nearly
48 per cent of India's total exports to China are of iron
ore."
However,
he said that it will be difficult to stop exports in the
short run as India has long- term contracts with Japan
and South Korea as well.
He said, as India moves to reach its goal of producing
100-million tonnes of steel locally, the availability
of high-grade ore to the domestic steel industry must
increase. "Exports would then not a feasible option.
It is also necessary to conserve high-grade iron ore which,
is at present, being exported in substantial quantities."
He
called upon the stakeholders to come together and agree
to a larger
national perspective in this area so that value-addition
takes place in India and employment is also generated
in the country.
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