Bizmen object to constant hike in steel prices

Ludhiana: City businessmen are up in arms against the central government for overlooking their demand for setting up a steel regulator who could keep an eye on the unnecessary price hike of steel raw material of various kinds and regulate the prices.

According to the businessmen, the steel companies are hiking prices unnecessarily and steel prices have soared by Rs 8,000-10,000 per tonne during last two months despite the fact that there is no demand as the production in factories has reduced by 50% compared with the pre-lockdown period.

Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisations (FICO), “We strongly oppose the irrational hike in prices of steel. During the last two months, the rates of various types of raw materials have been hiked by Rs 8,000-10,000 per tonne without any reason. For years, we have been requesting government to set up a regulator to keep a strict watch on the rates and take action on the companies or dealers who unnecessarily hike the rates of steel and are hell bent on destroying the micro small and medium scale industries.”

According to Rajeev Jain, general secretary of FICO, “The prices of various steel raw materials have risen by Rs 3,000 per tonne from September 1 without any logic. Steep hike in steel prices is being observed every month and due to this the local factories like bicycle, sewing machine and auto parts, to name a few, are facing huge losses. Frequent price hike is proving to be fatal for the micro and small scale units. The situation has also made the local industry incompetent when it comes to selling our products in international markets. We do not understand when India is so rich in iron ores why the steel prices are being drastically increased so frequently.”

According to K K Seth, leading bicycle manufacturer and exporter, “With the lifting of lockdown, the industry is operational only at around 40% of its installed capacity. Some factories despite demand have not been able to increase the production capacity due to various reasons. Meanwhile, the steel prices have increased up to Rs 10,000 per tonne in the last 45 to 60 days, which is totally unacceptable. How can the steel companies and government expect us to revise our rates every month in accordance with the new rates of steel raw material? Therefore, steel prices should be regulated through regulatory authority, so that MSME industries can be saved. The setting up of regulatory committee will also provide stability to the MSME sector and we will be able to compete with countries like China in the international markets. Moreover, if the rates of our products are competitive, this will also fulfil the vision of central government of Make in India and Atamanirbhar Bharat”


Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.