According to the official, if producers do increase prices substantially, the ministry would be left with no option but recommending a re-imposition of export duty and initiate other fiscal measures.

The see-saw battle on prices between producers and the ministry began in April. Between January and April, prices of pig iron jumped over 70 per cent, that of construction steel rose 36 per cent and HR coils by more than 40 per cent. This prompted steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan to hold a series of meetings with the producers. The hide-and-seek game on prices continued forcing Paswan to ask the Prime Minister to consider imposing export duty. With persisting demand-supply mismatch, the government in May imposed the duty.