Jamshedpur, Jan. 1: With government focus on building Smart Cities and urbanization and Central government’s push in the infrastructure sector will push up demand for steel, said TV Narendran, managing director, Tata Steel.
Talking to the mediapersons after New Year cake cutting ceremony at centre for excellence, Narendran said the steel industry should focus on creating level playing field for domestic companies to compete with increasing imports.
‘Both the state and central government are planning for increased investment in the infrastructure sector including airport, road, smart cities, affordable homes and the pace of the economic growth which is likely to be between 7 to 8 percent will boost the demand for steel’, MD added.
Steel industry is in a very bad condition and most of the big companies are losing money and many of the Chinese companies are also at loss but when comparing Tata Steel is doing fine, said Mr. Narendran, adding, ‘China is producing 120 MT of steel in excess of demand and is importing about 15 percent of the steel to India due to which the domestic steel market is in a very bad shape’.
MD further informed that South East Asia, India and Mexico are among few places were steel consumption will increase and talking about India, steel consumption is relatively low in Eastern part of India.
Tata Steel MD noted present cost of the steel is similar to what it was in 2003, but claimed that Tata Steel continued to perform well despite the conditions and has remained profitable.
The government had proposed a safeguard duty of 20 per cent to face dumping of Chinese steel when prices of steel were USD 380 but the prices decreased to USD 340 when approved and USD 260 when implemented, thus affecting profit margins, he added.
Asked about the changes that Jamshedpur would witness, TV Narendran said, first we would like to complete all pending projects including the road widening which is in full swing while water and sewage recycle work would start within the next two months.
‘We want continuous support from the community and Jamshedpur Carnival was an example as how Hoteliers Association and citizens of Jamshedpur came together in a single platform’, Tata Steel MD signed off.