Sandeep Poundrik takes charge as Secretary of Steel Ministry

New Delhi: Sandeep Poundrik, an IAS officer of the 1993 batch, assumed charge as Secretary, Ministry of Steel, at Udyog Bhawan here on Tuesday.

After taking over the charge, he held a meeting with senior officials of the Ministry to review the progress of the steel sector in the country.

Poundrik was holding the charge of Additional Chief Secretary in the Industries Department and has also served in several other positions in the Government of Bihar.

He had previously served as an Advisor in the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) under the Ministry of Home Affairs and as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas as well.

India became the world’s second-largest steel producer in 2018 surpassing Japan and has succeeded in maintaining this rank since then.

The country’s crude steel production has shot up by over 35 million tonnes in the last four years from 109.14 million tonnes in 2019-20 to 144.30 million tonnes in 2023-24, Minister of State for Steel and Heavy Industries Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma informed the Rajya Sabha last week.

He said the government as a facilitator has taken several measures to create a conducive policy environment for improving production and consumption of steel in the country. These include the implementation of the Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) Policy to promote ‘Made in India’ steel for government procurement.

The government has also launched a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme to promote the manufacturing of Specialty Steel within the country and reduce imports by attracting capital investments. The anticipated additional investment under PLI Scheme for Specialty Steel is Rs 29,500 crores. This is expected to create an additional capacity of around 25 million tonnes (MT) for speciality steel.

The minister further stated that to make Indian steel become globally competitive, the government has reduced basic customs duty on ferro nickel, a raw material used for steel, from 2.5 per cent to zero, making it duty-free, while duty exemption on ferrous scrap has been extended up to 31st March 2026, in the Budget for 2024-25.