The government is planning certain modifications in the PLI Scheme for speciality steel and has extended the last day to submit the applications by about a month till April 30, a senior government official has said.
On July 22 last year, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved a Rs 6,322-crore PLI scheme to boost the production of speciality steel in India. The move is expected to attract an additional investment of about Rs 40,000 crore and generate 5.25 lakh job opportunities.
March 29, 2022, was the last date to submit the applications for investors looking to invest under the scheme, which has been extended to April 30, the official in the Ministry of Steel told PTI.
There will be certain additions in the modified scheme, which are underway, he said.
Explaining the rationale behind the move, he said the step has been taken on the request of steelmakers, who had raised certain concerns over the scheme.
“We are working on a uniform incentive on the production of speciality steel. More grades, especially those used in the defence sector, will be added to the scheme. Cap on production is also one area we are looking at,” he said on the possible changes in the modified scheme.
In the initial scheme, five categories of speciality steel — coated/plated steel products, high strength/wear-resistant steel, speciality rails, alloy steel products, steel wires and electrical steel — were included.
Industries like automobiles, electrical, defence and pipes are consumers of these grades of steel.
Earlier, speaking with PTI, Minister of State for Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste had said he was confident of a huge number of domestic and internal players coming forward to avail the benefits of the scheme and invest in India to produce speciality steel.
Kulaste had also said that increasing per-capita steel consumption and the production of special steel, as well as enhancing raw material security, will remain the key focus areas of the government in 2022.
The government aims to save Rs 33,000-crore foreign exchange (forex) that goes out of India annually in exchange for the import of speciality steel. PTI
