The delegation urged the government to take up the issue of anti-dumping duties imposed by the US which have affected exports and steel production in India, according to a statement issued by the government. The industry fears that any fresh anti dumping duties would push the steel industry into a recession since demand in the domestic market is also stagnant.

The Confederation of Indian Industry's 11-point action plan submitted to the minister includes initiation of bilateral discussions during the visit of Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the US to increase steel exports to the US and address the anti-dumping issue. India also needs to explore new markets such as China, Korea and Russia.

Other members of the delegations included Essar Steel's director Prashant Ruia, Ispat Industries Ltd's joint managing director VK Mittal, Jindal Vijaynagar Steel's SK Gupta, Mukund Ltd's SK Ahluwalia and Sail's director commercial AK Singh. Steel secretary, AK Agarwal was also present at the meeting.

The delegation pointed out that the industry was producing 25 million tonne against the current capacity of 33 million tonne and the domestic consumption was only 24 million tonne.

The industry has sought assistance from the ministry for quick implementation of insfrastructure and construction projects to increase domestic demand.

The delegation also suggested that there should be a Buy Indian Act on the lines of the Buy American Act.

The team observed that the draft paper had been prepared and was under discussion in the ministry of law.

On imports of seconds and defectives into the country, the delegation felt that a mechanism needs to be put in place to regulate imports.

Other proposal in the action include measures to ensure availability of continuous supply of iron ore for sustaining the growth of the steel industry.

Availability of natural gas to the industry, extending time for construction of steel plants and extension of the period of export obligation under the Export Promotion Credit Guarantee scheme.

The action plan also includes removal of disparity between competing raw materials and same taxation levels for all raw materials.

The delegation requested the minister to urgently convene a meeting of the Linkage Committee for iron ore to ensure that domestic users get uninterrupted supply.

The delegation said there was a need to formulate a national policy on steel. The blue print must look at the future of the Indian steel industry over the short, medium and long-term.

The CII team apprised the minister of the initiative being taken by the industry for a national campaign to promote steel usage.