**Summary:**
On July 2, 2025, the Ministry of Steel issued a clarification order regarding existing Quality Control Orders (QCOs) for steel products. This clarification, stemming from an order dated June 13, 2025, addresses the application of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) standards to intermediate steel products used in the manufacturing of final steel goods. While the Ministry of Steel has enforced 151 BIS standards through Quality Control Orders, with the last QCO issued in August 2024, no new QCOs have been issued since then.
The core clarification mandates that intermediate materials used in the production of BIS-certified steel products must also adhere to the relevant BIS standards. This measure aims to:
1. **Establish Parity:** Ensure imported finished steel products are subject to the same quality standards as those manufactured domestically, where Indian producers are already required to use BIS-compliant intermediate materials.
2. **Guarantee Quality:** Ensure the quality of finished products by enforcing BIS standards for intermediate materials, as substandard intermediate inputs can compromise the quality of the final product. An example cited is coated steel, where the Hot Rolled Coil (HRCR) base material must be BIS compliant to ensure the coated steel meets BIS standards.
3. **Prevent Substandard Imports:** Mitigate the risk of India becoming a dumping ground for substandard steel due to excess global capacity and declining consumption in other countries. The clarification aims to prevent the import of cheap, non-BIS compliant intermediate products that would undermine the quality of finished steel goods.
4. **Integrated Steel Plants:** Integrated Steel Plants with BIS licenses that cover the entire manufacturing process, from intermediate to finished products, will not require separate licenses for each stage. Further clarifications will be issued by the Ministry of Steel following verification from BIS.
The Ministry of Steel anticipates no price increases as a result of the June 13th order, citing India's 200 million tonne steel manufacturing capacity, which is sufficient to meet domestic demand.
The order is also motivated by the need to protect the domestic steel industry, particularly small steel industries, from the adverse effects of cheap, substandard imports. Many countries have implemented safeguard duties and measures like sectoral tariffs and Tariff-Rate Quotas (TRQs). With India being the only major economy experiencing steel consumption growth (above 12% for the last three years), it is vulnerable to increased dumping. Substandard imports could jeopardize the planned expansion of India's steel capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030 and 400 million tonnes by 2035, which requires an estimated US$200 billion in capital investment. Failure to protect the domestic industry could also lead to job losses.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Steel: The Indian government ministry that issued the Quality Control Order clarification.
BIS Standards: Bureau of Indian Standards standards for steel products and intermediate materials.
Quality Control Order: Order issued by the Ministry of Steel for enforcement of BIS Standards on steel products.
India: The country whose domestic steel industry is the subject of the policy.
HRCR Coil: Hot-Rolled, Cold-Reduced Coil, an intermediate steel product.
Integrated Steel Plants: Steel plants that make both intermediate and finished steel products.
TariffRate Quotas TRQs: Trade policy instruments used by countries to protect their domestic steel industries.
US 200 billion: The approximate capital infusion required by 2035 for steel capacity creation in India
Ministry of Steel
Clarificatory Order of Ministry of Steel regarding
Quality Control Order on Steel Products
Posted On: 02 JUL 2025 3:32PM by PIB Delhi
Ministry of Steel has issued Quality Control Orders for enforcement of 151 BIS Standards. The last Quality
Control Order was issued in August 2024. No new Quality Control Order has been issued after that.
th
The Order of Ministry of Steel dated 13 June 2025 is to clarify that the intermediate material for
manufacturing of final products under BIS Standards, steel products will also have to follow BIS
Standards prescribed for such intermediate products. No new Quality Control Orders have been
issued. This order was necessary in view of the following:
I. Parity with domestic producers: Presently, import of finished steel products was not at par with
Indian manufacturers of finished steel products as Indian steel products manufacturers had to use
only BIS Standard compliant intermediate material while no such requirement was felt by
importers for import of steel products. It will be wrong to put domestic steel products
manufacturers at a comparative disadvantage vis-à-vis imported products in terms of non-BIS
compliant intermediate input products.
II. Compliance of BIS Standards for intermediate product is required to ensure that finished product
is as per quality requirement given by BIS Standards. If this not done, a final product may be sub-
standard. For example, large quantity of coated steel is imported into India. Coated steel uses
HR/CR Coil as base material, which is the main product in this case. If HR/CR Coil is not BIS
compliant, coated steel cannot be BIS compliant, even if the coating process is itself BIS
compliant.
III. Possibility of import of substandard steel: It is also to be noted that because of excess capacity
and declining consumption in certain countries, there is big possibility of dumping of
substandard steel. As India is the only fast-growing large economy in the world, there is a very
high possibility of cheap steel getting pushed into Indian market unless adequate measures are
put in place for import of quality steel. It is to be noted that if intermediate inputs (which form
the core of finished product like HR coil, CR coil or coated steel) are not BIS compliant and are
substandard, the final product cannot be BIS compliant.
IV. It may be noted that Integrated Steel Plants, which make intermediate products and finished
products themselves and the BIS licence has been issued to them taking into account the whole
process, will not need to have different licences for all stages as the BIS certification process
takes care of the whole manufacturing chain. Ministry of Steel will issue clarifications in this
regard after verification from BIS for such integrated steel plants.
V. Apprehension of possibility of price rise due to the 13th June Order issued by Ministry of Steel
are unfounded. India has a steel manufacturing capacity of 200 Million Tonnes which is enough
to meet domestic demand. Hence no such possibility of price increase seems to be there.
VI. It is to be noted that many countries have imposed safeguard duties and measures to prevent
import of cheap steel from the international market such imposition of sectoral tariffs , TariffRate Quotas (TRQs) etc. Because of these safeguard measures adopted by other countries, the
possibility of dumping of cheap substandard steel into India further increases. If this happens,
this will have extreme adverse impact on the domestic steel industry and especially the small
steel industries in the country. This will also lead to the possibility of loss of employment of
lakhs of people.
VII. It is to be noted that India is the only major economy, where steel consumption is growing at
above 12% for the last three years. On the contrary, the steel consumption in other geographies
is either stagnant or decline. This fast growth in steel consumption is due to Government of
India’s push on infrastructure strengthening, public and private sector development in buildings
and real estate and growing manufacturing of capital goods in the country. To cater to this steel
demand, the country will need about 300 MT steel capacity by 2030 and 400 MT of steel
capacity by 2035. This capacity creation will require capital infusion of approximately US $ 200
billion by 2035. If substandard cheap steel imports affect the domestic steel industry (both
integrated steel producers and small steel industries) their capacity to infuse this capital will
come into terrible strain and the capacity expansion plans of steel industry will be adversely
affected.
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TPJ/NJ
(Release ID: 2141513)