Beni Prasad Verma terms steel industry's performance "unsatisfactory"

New Delhi, May 21 (ANI): Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma on Monday has termed the performance of the country's steel industry as "unsatisfactory", while releasing a report that serves as a roadmap to attract investment to the sector.

"In the last one year, the performance has been unsatisfactory. The sales have also been affected,' Verma said.

He observed that work in various steel plants was running behind schedule and stressed on the need for improvement.

"Extensive marginalisation has taken place in all plants, the work has not been completed in a timely manner. In this case, we have also said that there should be improvement," he added.

He noted that there has been improvement in certain spheres of the industry, though much work needs to be done to ensure substantial improvement in the sector.

" There has been some improvement in some areas. We hope that in such events, we will be able to bring some improvement in the future or else we will have to rethink our strategy," he said.

The report listed down several causes responsible for the slowdown and also aims to find a solution to solve the pressing problems.

Earlier this year, India raised export taxes to 30 percent from 20 percent as it sought to conserve supplies for its steel industry, which is growing at 7-8 percent per year. (ANI)