Budget 2017 is a progressive budget which aims at a holistic development of the entire economy with 25.4 percent higher capital expenditure slated for FY 2017-18; will have an indirect impact on the steel industries, said PK Singh Chairman, SAIL in his reaction to the budget in Ranchi on Thursday.
The infrastructure sector will get an investment of Rs 3.96 crores including roads, railways, ports, airports, construction including the affordable housing which will now get an infrastructure status, he said.
The 3500 kms of railway lines, 1 crore houses for poor by 2019, improved connectivity between cities, affordable house building schemes will all translate to robust economic development. At the same time, 24 percent higher than previous year’s allocation towards rural, agriculture and allied sectors will strengthen rural India. The benefits announced for medium and small scale industries will also boost the manufacturing sector, said Singh.
All these announcements and investments in these sectors are expected to translate in improving the momentum of infrastructure, rural and MSME sector and given that steel will be one of the key requirements for these sectors, we expect that domestic demand scenario of steel will improve handsomely, Singh expressed.
The Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) officials termed, “The budget is a balanced one overall”. The focus of the budget on housing, rural economy and infrastructure will drive increased consumption of steel which is a good sign for the steel industry in general, said a PR official.
Meanwhile, several industrialists having their steel industries at Chas, Balidih in Bokaro, Dhanbad and in Giridih termed the budget as ‘good’ for the steel sector. “As the allocation of nearly Rs 4 lakh crore towards infrastructure development, it would boost the demand of steel in the domestic market”, said R K Srivastwa a Dhanbad-based industrialist.
“The budget-2017 is focused on housing, rural economy, infrastructure including others is expected to revive the domestic steel demand”, said Krishna a Chas based trader.
Meanwhile, Indian Stainless Steel Development Association requested the government to re-look on the budget and withdraw the import duty on raw materials in a bid to revive the ailing steel industries, said S Baid, president of Chamber of Commerce Chas.
