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Quality standard for steel is commendable

Indian steel industry has taken a giant step to align itself with global counterparts in setting up a quality standard for the common varieties of steel.

Indian steel industry has taken a giant step to align itself with global counterparts in setting up a quality standard for the common varieties of steel. Credit must go to the ministry of steel in coming out with the long-awaited mandatory certification of 17 steel products on March 12, 2012.

A time period of six months up to 11th September 2012 has been given to the indigenous as well as exporters of these products to India to get the requisite licences by registering themselves with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). It may be recalled five years ago, the mandatory certification for steel products was issued for compliance by BIS. Even after extending them twice by six months each, the orders (except that concerning with seven products that include wires and galvanised sheets) had to be withdrawn due to the objections raised primarily by induction furnace units who had highlighted the poor state of their furnaces, the uncertain quality of the feed stocks due to which production as per BIS specification could not be possible. It was rightly thought that a large number of such units must be given a sufficient time to prepare themselves adequately to make arrangements for suitable facilities (ladle refining), including other upgradations to be able to reduce high sulphur (reduces strength) and phosphorous (enhances brittleness) content in steel produced by them.

The period also coincided with a movement introduced by the department of consumer affairs under the caption Jago Grahak Jago for various consumer items like mustard oil, toothpaste and others. The consumers were made aware of the harmful impact on their health and safety by use of non-standard spurious goods. Out of several steel products, a few items like reinforcement bar (TMT bar), structural sections (beams, channels, angles), plates and galvanised sheets are very much used in building houses, frames, roofs, trunks and boxes, industrial structures, fabrication, transmission towers, air conditioning ducts, industrial boilers and pressure vessels, bridges and flyovers, steel furniture and a host of other products and thus has become an inseparable part in our daily life.

Very few people are aware that seconds grade of electrical steel sheets (cold rolled non-grain oriented) and defective cold rolled cold-annealed sheets which are imported at a cheap price, are used in making house service meters leading to higher watt loss, higher electricity bills and reducing drastically the life span of the meters.

Similar is the fate of electric fans using defective electrical sheets. Seconds quality grain oriented steel sheets (CRGO) are being used for making electric transformers and when burnt, it would lead to total disruption of power distribution. It is, therefore,

imperative that an effective customer awareness programme against use of inferior variety of steel products must commence along with the notification. This is also being planned. This sincere endeavour by the steel ministry has already encouraged many small and medium steel producers to register themselves with BIS and be granted the requisite licences.

n The author is DG, Institute of Steel Growth and Development. The views expressed are personal

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First published on: 10-04-2012 at 02:13 IST
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