Steel Ministry extends till Apr 17 deadline for non BIS-certified high grade steel

The Ministry of Steel Wednesday extended till April 17 the deadline for mandatory use of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certified high-grade steel in automobile manufacturing.

Automobile manufacturers in India have been importing high-grade steel and had pressed the government to extend the deadline for using Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certified high-grade steel beyond February 17.

According to auto manufacturers, they are facing difficulty in sourcing high-grade steel from domestic companies while foreign suppliers have expressed reluctance to seek BIS certification due to very low volumes.

In a notification on Wednesday, the steel ministry said, "in pursuance to the enforcement of steel and steel products quality control order dated August 13, 2018, the Ministry of Steel informs that all grades available in Indian standards IS 4454 (Part-1): 2001, IS 4454 (Part II): 2001, IS 11169 (Part-I): 1984 and IS 6603: 2001, IS 6527: 1995 and IS 6528: 1995 shall remain outside the purview of the quality control order till April 17, 2019." To promote local manufacturing, the steel ministry in June 2018 mandated BIS certification for the commodity to be sold in India. This included both for domestically produced and imported steel.

For the domestic auto industry, December 17, 2018 was set as the deadline to meet the norm.

Following the concerns raised by the auto makers, the government in December 2018 extended the deadline for automobile makers till February 17.

The automobile manufacturers had sought a year's time, expressing their inability to source high grade steel locally soon citing inconsistent quality.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)