Union steel minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday said he will try to convince the finance ministry to raise duties on steel imports to 10-12 per cent from the current 7.5 per cent.

The move aims to protect the domestic steel industry from a rise in cheaper imports from nations such as China.

However, industry said the hike may not be sufficient to protect steel companies.

The minister expressed concerns over the manner in which China was dumping steel into India and said several players from the steel industry visited him in the last two months and discussed the problems they were facing in the growth of the steel
industry.

“The problem which you are facing from China for that I will try to convince... the finance ministry to look at (raising the duty on steel imports) from 7.5 per cent tax to 10-12 per cent tax,” he said while speaking at the Fifth Steel Conclave organised by the Indian Steel Association.

Naveen Jindal, chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) and president of the ISA, called for immediate action to protect the domestic industry.

“We have written to the finance minister and steel minister about this. It is a fiercely competitive market, prices are lower than anywhere in the world, but the imports are coming in at predatory prices.”

Jindal emphasised the importance of safeguarding the industry. “Steel demand is only going to increase in India, and there is huge growth potential, but we need to ensure that the industry is protected from unfair competition.”

He also suggested the current import duty may not be sufficient, saying, “I don’t think 10-12 per cent import duty will be enough. The prices of the steel being dumped are too low.”

India, the world’s biggest crude steel producer, became a net importer in 2023-24, and the trend has continued in the four months of this fiscal.

Research firm Icra has said the country would remain a net importer for the full fiscal.

In the first four months of the fiscal, imports stood at 2.7 mt against exports of 1.6mt. In the last fiscal, India was a net importer of 11.mt against a surplus of 1.6mt in 2022-23.