Major steel producers haven't hiked prices: Paswan

Battling to keep steel majors in line against indiscriminately hiking prices, steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that major producers like Tata Steel and SAIL have not raised prices in tandem with others like Jindal Steel (JSW).

"I got a fax from Essar that they have not raised prices," Paswan told a news agency when asked if the industry had turned defiant.

Paswan, who is pushing for a slew of measures including duty cuts to provide a succour to producers against the ever-increasing input costs, said that major producers like Steel Authority of India and Tata Steel have not hiked prices.

On the contrary, the prices of iron bars had come down from Rs50,000 a tonne to Rs45,000 a tonne, he said, adding that government would maintain vigil on the price front, an issue that is a major concern for the government.

Paswan has announced the setting up of a committee headed by the steel secretary to examine the ratio of steel price increase to price increase of raw materials like iron-ore and coking coal and suggest ways to bring down steel and ore prices.

''If they are proportionate then the price rise is fair. But if the price of steel has risen more than that of raw materials then the steel companies should reduce prices, '' he said, adding ''We also have to see that steel companies are not pushed into the red.''

He indicated that fiscal measures on steel could be taken after the committee submitted its report early next week, though the government seems to be increasingly reluctant to abolish import duty on steel. since very high global steel prices could make that move ineffective.

Paswan added, ''International prices are still very high. Even if we remove the 5 per cent import duty, Chinese prices will still be higher than ours.''

Moreover, the ministry of mines says there is adequate supply of iron ore in the country and that Tata  and Sail together account for 37 per cent of all mines in the country.

Given the spectre of inflation, the government is also examining the feasibility of bringing in a steel regulator and classifying steel as an essential commodity.