Describing the National Steel Policy as not a structured one, a Parliamentary panel has said it is grossly inadequate in addressing the burning issues in the steel sector like grant or renewal of mining leases and securing environmental clearances, which could impede its growth.

“The Committee feel that NSP is not a well structured policy. NSP does not propose any concrete mechanism to address important issues such as problems faced in grant or renewal of mining leases and inordinate delay in obtaining environmental clearances etc which hamper the growth and development of steel industry,” the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings said in its report.

It argued that all corporate plans and expansion plans of steel PSUs such as SAIL and RINL, which are being implemented in pursuance of the goals of NSP will be adversely affected if the difficulties are not addressed in the right earnest.

“The Committee are disappointed to find that NSP is too inadequate in addressing the burning issues.” As regards the delays in obtaining clearances, the Committee said though NSP proposes a single window clearance for large projects to be followed by statutory clearances by the ministries concerned, it does not clearly spell out a time frame within which clearances should be granted. Observing that mineral-rich states would recommend renewal of existing leases only against credible mining investment plans against a specified period, the Parliamentary panel said NSP has failed to spell out clear-cut modalities in this connection.

“The Committee are unsure whether the mineral-rich states would follow the guidelines of the Central government in a federal democratic set-up,” it said and suggested that the NSP should emphasise on creating a single-window mechanism for all the clearances and timely and adequate availability of steel and discouraging export of quality iron ore needed by domestic steel utilities. Steel production capacity in the country by the year 2012 will be nearly 124 million tonnes. India is expected to become the second largest steel-making nation in the world by 2015.

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