Ludhiana Industrialists on Saturday held a meeting with Rama Chandra Prasad Singh, union minister of steel, highlighting such issues as the steep hike in steel prices.
Suggesting that the government must intervene and stop cartelisation of steel to save the MSME sector, Upkar Singh Ahuja, president of the Industrial and Commercial Undertaking, said, “A majority of steel manufacturers in the country cartelise and hence monopolise the steel trade which should be stopped as the rates are fixed by them, as per their own will rather than looking at the demand and supply.”
Ahuja further said the biggest hurdle faced by the MSME is procuring raw material from large steel manufacturers. It was suggested, during the meeting, that steel companies can extend the line of credit for buyers where the Government of India can act as guarantor.
Industrialists also proposed that production-linked incentives should be given to the steel industry.