The
origin of Joint Plant Committee (JPC) can be traced way back in 1964, when
it came into being, following the
recommendations of Dr. K. N. Raj Committee, for
the purpose of formulating guidelines for production, allocation, pricing
and distribution of iron and steel materials in the country. With passage of time, Indian steel industry was
deregulated in 1992, which marked a turning point for JPC. From that point
onwards, the role/charter/activities of JPC changed considerably as it
moulded itself into the role of a facilitator for the Indian steel
industry, operating in a liberalized market-driven economy.
The modern-day JPC is headquartered at
Kolkata with four regional offices in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and
Chennai and the Economic Research Unit at New Delhi serving as a wing of
JPC to carry out techno-economic studies. At present, it comprises of the
following members:
·
Chairman - Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel,
Government of India
·
Four representatives from Steel Authority of India
Ltd (SAIL)
·
One representative each from Tata Steel Ltd
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd.
(RINL) and
·
One representative from Indian Railways, as an
important consumer of steel
The National Steel
Policy has laid down the long term Vision of Growth for the Indian steel
industry, which is on the threshold of undergoing a major change, in terms
of number, capacity, production, technology, among others. Already India
has achieved the exalted rank of being the 5th largest producer
of crude steel in the world, besides its coveted position as the world’s
largest sponge iron producer and implementation of the on-going capacity
expansion projects are expected to lead the domestic steel industry to
greater heights. In such an environment, Joint Plant Committee, already
accredited the prestigious ISO 9001:
2000 certification for its manifold services, has been pursuing a
charter of jobs, keeping in mind the information needs of an industry
growing and changing rapidly.
Data & Information
Services
Today, JPC is the only institution in
the country, which is officially empowered to collect data on the Indian
iron and steel industry, resulting in the creation and maintenance of the
only basic databank on this industry. Major data items collected
include:
·
Capacity, Production and Stock of both Main and
Secondary Producers of steel covering segments like crude steel,
semi-finished steel, non-flat steel and the entire downstream range of
flat steel;
·
Domestic market prices of iron and
steel;
·
Export-import of iron, steel;
·
Production, prices, reserves of raw materials for
steel making;
·
State-wise, category-wise dispatch of iron and
steel;
·
Production, availability, consumption of
refractory;
·
Consumption data of related category of iron and
steel features in the database as a derived
item.
Besides regular liaison with the
units, segment-specific surveys form a major database maintenance
activity. They not only help update the population frame but also aid
policy decisions at the government level. Last year, a survey on the
Indian sponge iron industry was completed and before that, surveys on
induction furnace/electric arc furnace and re-rolling units were
completed. A survey of pig iron industry and another of the refractory
segment are currently being pursued. Reports of all the completed survey
are available at JPC for sale.
Industry statistics for long has
suffered from the data problems of under-reporting in crude steel data
(affecting in turn, semi-finished and re-rolling sector data) and double
counting in data for flat steel. JPC had been working on this for some
time and in 2007, it has addressed /corrected these problems, and
accordingly revised its entire data series starting from 1992-92.
Collection of field data from plants and equipment manufacturers was part
of the exercise and JPC had put in all-out efforts to compile all such
data from extensive field surveys.
Dissemination of
Information
Besides collection of data,
dissemination of information to all stakeholders of Indian steel industry
is another key activity of JPC. Major channels of information
dissemination include:
· JPC Bulletin on Iron & Steel: provides a
monthly trend scenario of the Indian iron and steel industry in a global
perspective.
·
Performance Review: Iron & Steel: Encapsulates an exhaustive
account of the developments in different aspects of the Indian iron and
steel industry in the fiscal gone by.
· Annual Statistics: provides a statistical profile of
five-yearly database on different areas of Indian steel
industry.
· Survey Reports: include reports of various
surveys conducted by JPC viz. sponge iron, pig iron, CR-GP/GC, RR,
EAF/IF.
· Special Publications: recently, JPC has
released the ‘Guidelines for Entrepreneurs for Setting up of Iron &
Steel Plants’. Prepared by MECON Ltd, the report (in CD format) compiles
all the vital information sought by an entrepreneur wishing to set-up a
steel plant in the country.
·
Through website,
www.jpcindiansteel.org: information on different aspects of the domestic
iron & steel industry.
Additionally, information
dissemination finds avenues via responding to queries from industry,
maintaining the organization’s quality objectives of adequacy, accuracy
and timelines. Analytical/Research support are also provided in areas like
steel policy matters, trade cases, price and market trends, economic
analysis, formulation of Plan projections on steel demand/availability and
any other case to case matter.
Some of the key projects undertaken in
this regard by ERU include estimating category wise demand for the
11th Five Year Plan, estimating capacity and production in the
Induction Furnace Sector (study undertaken on behalf of the Expert Group
formed for revising JPC data), revision of targets of National Steel
Policy in view of acceleration in economic growth, assessing adequacy of
infrastructure for the proposed expansion in steel capacity in the
11th Plan with special reference to Orissa, Chhattisgarh and
Jharkhand and study on the prospects of Utilization of Iron ore fines in
India. Besides monthly analysis of market prices, formation of pre-Budget
proposals for the steel sector, studies on competitiveness of the Indian
steel industry, ERU also functions as the Secretariat to the Steel Price
Monitoring Committee and to the Sub-committee on relative movement of Hot
Rolled & Cold Rolled prices.
Materials for Parliament questions and speeches and background
notes for use by the Ministry of Steel feature among miscellaneous
activities undertaken by ERU.
Support
Services
The objective here is to provide
varied support to steel industry / Ministry of Steel on different issues /
activities, related to development of industry and /or spread of awareness
on usage of steel. Some of the key activities here
include:
·
Organizational responsibility of the Steel
Consumers’ Council meetings of Ministry of Steel, which provides a forum
for interaction between the producers and consumers of steel in the
country.
·
Showcase the multifaceted usage of steel in daily
life through organization and participation (every year since 2002) in the
‘Steel Pavilion’ of Ministry of Steel in the ‘India International Trade
Fair’ (IITF), New Delhi.
·
JPC aims to propagate knowledge, awareness on the
benefits of usage of steel and bridge the information gap between the
producers and end-users of steel. This is achieved through lending support
to, as well as organization of, seminars / workshops on technology,
infrastructure, environment, market trends, budget, policymaking and other
topical issues.
·
Education is the stepping stone to greater success.
Under the aegis of the Ministry of Steel, the Biju Patnaik National Steel
Institute (BPNSI) in Puri/Orissa and the National Institute for
Secondary Steel Technology (NISST), Mandi Gobindgarh are instances
initiated in this regard. The
Indian construction sector has emerged as a key consumer of steel and with
infrastructure building in the country poised for a big leap, the
potential of steel consumption in the Indian construction sector is
immense. It is the realization of this potential that has led to the
formulation of the Institute for Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG) in
Kolkata with active participation from industry under the patronage of the
Ministry of Steel.
Fund Management Services
Vide Notification No. S.O. 744
(E)/ESS.COMM/IRON & STEEL dated 27th December, 1978,
Ministry of Steel had announced the decision to form the Steel Development
Fund (SDF). The main idea behind SDF is the promotion of Research and
Development in steel industry for which funds are earmarked every year,
from SDF. JPC serves as the Secretariat of the Steel Development Fund
(SDF). The SDF Managing Committee comprises of Secretary to the Government
of India, Ministry of Steel who is the Chairman. The other members are
Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, Govt. of India,
Secretary, Planning Commission, Govt. of India and the Jt. Secretary, MOS,
Govt. of India is the Member Secretary, SDF Managing Committee.
In tune with its objective, this fund
provides financial assistance to the industry from the interest of SDF
corpus for taking up projects like, technology up-gradation, major new
investments in capacity enhancement, measures connected with pollution
control, activities related to Research and Development. Out of the SDF
Corpus JPC also renders assistance:
1.
In
form of rebate to the Small Scale Industries Corporation (SSICs) engaged
in the distribution of steel.
2.
Prime Minister’s
Trophy for the best integrated steel
plant
3.
Market Development
Projects
4.
GEF/UNDP project for
environment and pollution control in the iron and steel sector
JPC in recent times, has also been
entrusted with the Secretarial functions of the Ferrous Scrap Committee
(FSC), which includes among others, management of the Ferrous Scrap
Development Fund (FSDF).
Members of
Joint Plant Committee:
Dr. Udai
Pratap Singh, Jt.Secretary, MOS and Chairman JPC, Tel
No.:(011), 23063297;
Fax:011-23063415
Shri Arvind Srivastava, Director (RS/I&S)
Railway Board, 3, Koilaghat Street, Kolkata, Tel No.:(033)2248-0430,
Fax:2248-0405, Res Tel No:2446-1615, email:jdrs@cal.vsnl.net.in
Shri Ranen Nag,
Executive Director (T&S) Steel Authority of India Limited, Central
Marketing Organisation, Ispat Bhavan, 40, Chowringhee Road, Kolkata - 700
071, Tel No.:(033)2288-9814/9621, Fax:(033)2288-9876, Res. Tel
No.2321-7878 email:ranennag@sail.steel.com
Shri D.Kobi,
Executive Director (MKTG-FP) Steel Authority of India Limited, Central
Marketing Organisation, Ispat Bhavan, 40, Chowringhee Road, Kolkata -
700071, Tel No.:(033)2288-1372,Fax:(033)2288-6183,
Shri V K Mehta,
Executive Director (M-LP/ITD) Steel Authority of India Limited,
Central Marketing Organisation, Ispat Bhavan, 40, Chowringhee
Road, Kolkata -
700071
Shri
A.K.Ghosh , ED (F&A), Steel Authority of India Limited,(CMO),
Ispat Niketan, 52/1A, Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata - 700 019,
Tel No.:(033)2461-4011/12, Fax:(033)2461-4032
Shri H.M. Nerurkar, Chief Operating Officer, Tata
Steel
Ltd., Tel No.:(0657) 2431598, Fax:(0657)
2424098,
Shri R.
Sankar, GM (Mktg), RINL
, VSP, Vishakhapatnam-530031, Tel No.:(0891)
275-0562(O), Fax:(0891)251-8025, email:cgpatil.mktg@vizagsteel.com