Speaking at at the ISA Steel Conclave event in the national capital, Tata Steel CEO & MD T V Narendran on Tuesday said that India being a net importer of steel is a matter of concern. He also mentioned that if the imports continue to rise, the government has assured of intervention.
“I think it’s a little bit of a concern because internationally steel prices are still a bit soft because of China… You heard the (commerce) minister Piyush Goyal saying that if imports increase the government will look at what it can do to help us,” he said replying to a question on India being net importer of steel in October.
The domestic industry was assured that India will not accept such unfair taxes and will fight to get a fair deal for by the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal who was also present at the said event.
India has already flagged its concerns over the carbon tax with the European Union (EU) and in the WTO (World Trade Organization), Goyal said.
Domestic companies from seven carbon-intensive sectors, including steel, cement, fertiliser, aluminium and hydrocarbon products, will have to share data with regard to carbon emissions with the EU from October 1 this year, even thought the CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) or carbon tax (a kind of import duty) is set to come into effect from January 1, 2026.
“I will assure you that we are extremely concerned about CBAM… We are taking it up with the WTO very very seriously. We shall try to work and fight to get a fair deal for the Indian producers and exporters and nobody is complacent about CBAM,” he said here at a function of the steel industry.
According to SteelMint India, India’s steel imports were higher at 0.46 million tonnes (MT) in October 2023, compared to exports of 0.24 MT.
Replying to a separate question on the decarbonisation plans of Tata Steel Netherlands, Narendran said “we have already given a proposal which will be discussed with the Dutch government.”
After securing funding in the UK, Tata Steel is looking for financial aid from the Netherlands government to execute its decarbonisation plans.
In the Netherlands, the company has a 7 million tonne per annum (MTPA) plant in IJmuiden. The company’s goal is to produce CO2-neutral steel by 2050 in Europe.
Narendra did not elaborate on the estimated funding the company is looking at from the Netherlands government.
“That we don’t want to share lets wait for the discussion to happen,” he said.
