Union Minister for Steel and Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, participated in a workshop on ‘Enabling Procedures for increase of steel usage for the growth of Economy’ here today. The aim of the workshop wasto hold deliberations among key stakeholders to further increase the steel usage in sectors such as construction & infrastructure for the growth of economy. The workshop is organised by Ministry of Steel in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industries(CII), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Govt. of Japan and the Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships of Japan. His Excellency, the Ambassador of Japan to India Mr. Satoshi Suzuki also participated in the workshop.Addressing the inaugural session, Shri Pradhan focussed on collaborations of India and Japan to increase steel usage. Highlighting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of 5 trillion dollar economy, he said that various policy reforms and Government’s initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Har Ghar Jal Yojana, unprecedented speed of construction in railways and roads, creation of a gas based economy, creation of new agri-storage facilities and many others are set to drive steel demand growth.
Speaking about Indian steel sector, the minister said that with a large market, policy reforms, abundance of raw material, India is one of the most attractive global investment destinations in steel sector. Lauding Japan’s technological competence, he invited the Japanese industry to invest in India and get into technology transfer partnerships in order to tap the opportunities arising out of growing steel demand and generate employment opportunities in the country.Shri Pradhan also stated that in the next 20 years, India is set to be the largest energy market in the world. $60 billion is being invested in creation of energy infrastructure in the country. Addition of about 16,000 kms of gas pipelines will further give boost to steel demand.Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of State for Steel Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste said that steel is crucial to the development of any modern economy and is considered to be the backbone of industrial development. He mentioned about the usage of steel in developing disaster resilient structures. He furtherstated that the ministry is coordinating with other ministries to increase steel usage in the Government initiatives. Shri Kulaste alsosaid that such workshops will help to generate employment opportunities across the sector.The workshop witnessed participation from policy makers, bureaucrats, steel PSUs, integrated steel producers, secondary steel producers, infrastructure developers, equipment manufacturers, user organizations & associations, academicians, secondary steel associations, steel consultants, among others.