Do not intend to continue MIP unless strictly necessary: Govt

Minimum import price (MIP) imposed on certain steel products is constantly reviewed and the government has no intention to continue it unless "strictly necessary", Steel Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said today.

"MIP is certainly under constant review because we do not intend to continue MIP unless it is strictly necessary. So if industry is coming back to a healthier position and if global prices continue to stay where they are, then yes, definitely MIP will be reviewed," she said here.

When asked about the status of the MIP, she said it is too early to make a full assessment, but initial reports indicate that it has certainly had a hugely beneficial impact.

In February, the government imposed MIP on 173 steel products ranging between USD 341 to USD 752 per tonne (nearly Rs 23,065.24-50,865.28) to give relief to domestic steel producers against cheap in-bound shipments. It will remain in place for six months.

"One, the surge in imports has definitely come down. Two, prices have firmed up. And thirdly, many of the firms, which had actually closed down or had reduced production drastically they have certainly ramped up production," Sundararajan added.

On global prices rising and its impact on MIP, she said: "We will have to see. One thing is that nobody really knows that why the global prices have gone up the way they did. it could be in response to India's MIP." She added that circumvention is an issue in some grades of steel and the Ministry is trying to see how to address the issue.

Sundararajan said so far 5 investigations are going on for imposing safeguard and anti-dumping duties and the industry is expected to approach the government to initiate two more similar investigations.