No plan to regulate steel prices, says Paswan

07 Aug 2006

Mumbai: Steel sector will continue to be governed by market forces and the government has no intention to introduce a price control mechanism for steel or iron ore, steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan informed the Lok Sabha.

"The prices of iron ore as well as steel are deregulated and are governed by market forces. There is no proposal for introducing price control mechanism," he said in a written reply.

He said the country has sufficient reserves of iron ore and there is no proposal to completely ban the export of iron ore. Production of iron ore (haematite and magnetite) in the country during last fiscal totalled 22,107.99 million tonnes, he pointed out while replying to a supplementary query.

Meanwhile, the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is entering into a strategic partnership with Jaiprakash Associates Limited for joint production of cement in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. A letter of intent has been issued to them in this connection, minister of state for steel, Akhilesh Das, informed the house.

Jaiprakash Associates would have 74 per cent equity in the joint venture while SAIL would hold 26 per cent, he said.

The country, Das told the house, has exported 1,76,1784 tonnes of steel in the last two financial years.