New Delhi: The government is considering a proposal to impose a safeguard duty on steel imports, Union Steel Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Thursday. "The process is going on the ministry's proposal to impose a 25 per cent duty on steel imports," H D Kumaraswamy told PTI on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi.
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During a meeting with the commerce department on December 2, the steel ministry proposed a 25 per cent safeguard duty on certain steel products imported into the country. The steel minister and Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, were present at the meeting. The finance ministry could take a final call on imposing the duty on the recommendations of the Ministry of Commerce.
India's Steel Imports Surge Amid Concerns Over Cheap Imports and FTA Impact
Domestic steel players have been consistently raising concerns over increasing cheap steel imports from select nations, affecting their competitiveness. Last month, Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik said more than 60 per cent of steel imports come from FTA (free trade agreement) countries at nil duty, and any duty hike will not have any impact on these shipments. There is a genuine problem, and the ministry is aware of that, Poundrik said. India's steel imports were at 5.51 million tonnes (MnT) during the April-September 2024-25, higher from 3.66 MnT in the year-ago period, as per research firm BigMint. Imports from China surged to 1.85 MnT from 1.02 MnT during the April-September period of FY 2023-24, it said.
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