BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to protect steel manufacturing units in Odisha, the State government on Monday urged the Centre to continue imposing anti-dumping duties (ADD) and countervailing duties (CVD) on imported steel.
In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Industries and MSME Dibya Shankar Mishra said revoking of ADD and CVD on stainless steel products would give China a free hand for dumping cheap metal in the country.
Claiming that Odisha is one the top steel manufacturing states in the country, Mishra said dumping by China and Indonesia would make matters worse for domestic producers who have invested heavily in the State.
Noting that over Rs 1.5 lakh crore has been invested in steel sector and another Rs 8,000 crore investment is in pipeline for downstream industries, Mishra said the Centre’s move will only give a free hand to China to dump steel in the country via Indonesia. This will badly hit the State government’s plan to develop metal and steel clusters.
“The State government has drawn up plans to woo downstream industries, primarily metal and steel. A 50 per cent value addition has been targeted in the metal sector by 2030. For this to happen, the State will take all steps to protect the interests of the Steel and downstream industries,” Mishra said.
Admitting that steel industry in India, one of the fastest growing steel producing nations, is passing through stress for some time due to rising imports, the government assured Rajya Sabha that it will take all steps to promote and safeguard the sector.
He said major stainless steel manufacturers have opposed the suspension of anti-dumping duties citing risks of cheap Chinese imports flooding local markets.
At a time when countries like the USA have imposed 25 per cent duty on imports to protect their industries, it would not be wise for India to remove ADD and CVD from imported steel, Mishra added.