Official sources said the decision to defer the review was taken at a meeting chaired by NK Singh, secretary, Prime Minister' Office, and attended by steel secretary Ashok Basu and commerce secretary PP Prabhu. Another meeting is likely to be convened soon, the sources said.

Monday's meeting was convened to either revise or scrap the floor prices imposed in December last year to protect domestic industry from cheaper imports of steel products, particularly hot-rolled (HR) coils.

The meeting comes soon after a report submitted by Ashok Lahiri of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, recommending scrapping of the floor prices in view of the measure being not compliant with WTO norms.

The Government on December 10 last year had fixed a floor price of $302 for import of HR coils, $317 for HR sheets, $392 for cold-rolled coils, $720 for tinplates, and $740 for alloy steel bars and rods. On December 11, it fixed corresponding floor prices for second and defective imports of steel products.