Business Standard cited Mr Sushim Banerjee director general of INSDAG as saying that iron ore shortage will hit the industry hard but the steel industry did not pay attention to beneficiation or pelletization, which could enable it to use fines or convert low grade ore to high grade ones
Mr Banerjee said that "We have to understand that India is a parliamentary democracy, so any implementation of policy requires political consensus particularly because we have a coalition government. This is unlike China where capacities are created with full government support and some of them are now being closed for violation of environment norms or bank loan defaults. The government should play the role of a catalyst and facilitator in a liberalized economy."
He said that "I think the bigger issue facing the industry is iron ore shortage. This is going to hit the industry hard. But then, the Indian steel industry cannot shirk its responsibility; it did not pay adequate attention to beneficiation or pelletization, processes that would have enabled it to use fines or convert low-grade ore to high-grade ones."
He added that "I also agree that there are issues with NMDC pricing. When international prices are coming down, it is very odd that domestic prices are going up. But in 2008 and 2009 when import prices had shot up, NMDC didn't increase prices to that extent. Generally, the government does not interfere in the commercial working of an organization. The case of NMDC, however, may be different since it is the major supplier of iron ore to RINL, Essar and Jindal. The pricing in the ultimate analysis should be market based, which will still make the public sector commercially successful."
