New Delhi (NVI): Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today said that the Steel Ministry, as well as industries in the country, have undertaken cost-effective and environment-friendly production of steel through adoption of state-of-the-art technologies and research.
The minister, who was speaking in the Lok Sabha today, said that the Indian steel industry is addressing the energy and environment issues through the adoption of energy-efficient and environment-friendly technologies in the plants through technological upgradation, modernisation, expansion.
These measures undertaken by the Indian steel industry have also resulted in improvement in energy efficiency and reduction in Green House Gas (GHG) emission, Pradhan said while informing the house today.
While steel companies are themselves addressing the issues, the ministry has facilitated improvement in the energy and environment scenario of steel plants through various mechanisms, he said.
The Steel Ministry is providing financial assistance to the industry, CSIR laboratories & academia for carrying out research in the iron & steel sector.
It has also facilitated adoption of the technologies for harnessing waste heat and reducing carbon footprint in the integrated steel plants in collaboration with the Government of Japan.
Besides, the ministry has also facilitated adoption of technologies for enhancing energy efficiency and reducing carbon footprint in the smaller steel plants in association with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
In another reply to a question, Dharmendra Pradhan informed that the import of steel has increased marginally in the last 3 years from 7.23 Million Tonnes in 2016-17 to 7.84 Million Tonnes in 2018-19.
However, domestic steel production has consistently increased regardless of such imports, the ministry said in a statement.
Import of certain steel grades which are not manufactured or manufactured in adequate quantity in the country is required for supporting the manufacturing sector as well as the country’s export of machinery, automobiles etc.
Pradhan also said that there are total 977 steel plants in the country.
In the public sector, work is currently going on in NMDC Steel Plant in Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh which is a Greenfield steel plant. Steel is a deregulated sector where market forces and commercial considerations decide construction of new steel plants, the ministry said in a release.
