New Delhi: Concerned over cheap imported steel from China flooding Indian markets and adversely affecting the investments of domestic companies, a proposal by steel and commerce ministries to impose a minimum import price (MIP) on certain categories of the commodity is learnt to have been blocked by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), amid fears that any such a move may violate WTO norms — of which India is a signatory — and could fuel black marketing.
The red signal to the proposed move of the ministries by the PMO, appears to be an embarrassment to the commerce ministry, which after receiving several missives from the steel ministry, had made plans to issue a notification for imposing MIP, or in other words, it was planning to fix a floor price, below which no imported steel shipment would be allowed to be sold in the Indian markets.
This would have helped Indian steel makers reclaim their market and recover their investments, sources in the know of things said.
Though both the steel and commerce ministries had discussed the issue with the finance ministry, sources said the PMO shot down the proposal, apparently reminding the departments that with India being a signatory of WTO, any changes in pricing of a global commodity will have to be indicated to the global trade body.
The PMO, sources added, has sought further clarity on the matter and therefore as of now the proposal has been sent back to the drawing board, though Steel Ministry officials claimed that the matter is very much alive and there could be a positive movement on it.
