Report by OD bureau, New Delhi:  Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma today briefed Korean and Philippines Journalists about the status of the Posco Project in Odisha. A group of senior journalists from the Republic of Korea and Philippines called on the Union Steel Minister, Beni Prasad Verma here today. Senior Officers in the Ministry, Chairman SAIL and representative of Ministry of External Affairs were also present during the interaction.

Steel Minister gave an overview of the Indian steel industry to the media representatives and apprised them about the production, consumption and capacity expansion of steel in India. He said that India has registered an impressive growth of 7% in steel production during 2011-12 and has emerged as the 4th largest steel manufacturer in the world. With the ongoing Greenfield and Brownfield expansions, India is expected to become the 2nd largest producer in next couple of years.

It is estimated that India’s Steel Production will reach 200 million tonnes by 2020. He further added that although sufficient iron ore reserves are available within the country, there was an imperative need to source coal, iron ore from other countries to securitize availability of the strategic raw material. The Steel Minister discussed the efforts of International Coal Ventures Ltd and NMDC Ltd in their acquisitions of coal properties overseas.

The Steel Minister explained that India and Korea must forge bilateral ties and strategic partnership for the benefit of both countries. He also added that India is looking to source advanced technologies developed by Korean Manufacturers for bringing about process innovation in the steel industry and increasing availability of new products in the Indian market. SAIL and POSCO are working together for possible JV initiatives for setting up a plant based on Finex technology.