New Delhi: Over 30-35 per cent of the MSMEs in the stainless steel sector in Gujarat have shut shop due to a “massive flood” of imports from China.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared the media report on X which quoted Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA) president Rajamani Krishnamurti as saying that Indian stainless steel players are bearing the brunt of a heavy influx of cheaper Chinese imports, causing almost 30-35 per cent of medium and small businesses in Gujarat to shut shop between July-September last year.
Ramesh said, “80% of the nation’s MSMEs in the stainless steel sector are in Gujarat alone. Of these 35% shut shop between July and September 2023. Many others are barely managing to survive. The reason? There’s a massive flood of imports from China, the country to which the PM has given a clean chit and a country with whom, reportedly, we no longer express our concern on cheap imports to India.”
The Congress general secretary said, “The source of this most disturbing information? The President of the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association. He is indeed a most brave man to speak out in this manner. Bravo!”
‘Impose CVD on imported Chinese products’
The China eclipse has forced homegrown domestic owners to file a petition urging the Centre to impose countervailing duty (CVD) on imported stainless steel products.
Countervailing duties or CVDs are extra tariffs levied on goods a particular country brings in another country to make up for the help or special benefits the other country gives to its companies, which might make their goods cheaper.
“We have requested the government to play a key role in securing raw materials for MSMEs by having an arrangement with countries which have an abundance of the commodity so that we can get a special price with the intervention of the government,” Krishnamurti was quoted by moneycontrol.
On the national stainless steel policy which proposes to set medium and long-term objectives for India’s domestic stainless steel industry, he said it is still in development. “It is still in its nascent stage. We have already given five drafts to the steel ministry and they have asked for some more inputs. Hopefully, it may happen sometime post-March 2024,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
