The government on Saturday said it is in the process to engage a consultancy firm to draw an action plan for revival of the domestic steel sector.

Besides, the sector's stakeholders can also provide their suggestions to deal with the issues emerged in the sector post COVID-19 outbreak, Minister of State for Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste said in a webinar.

"The Steel Ministry will study and solve the issues which have cropped up due to the COVID crisis. The ministry understands the concerns of the players and has already issued an RFP (request for proposal) to appoint a consultancy, which would prepare an action plan on the same," he said.

Kulaste also said stakeholders from the steel industry are free to provide their suggestions, and assured that the ministry will look into it and try to solve them at the earliest.

The government is already aware of the disruptions which have been caused by the outbreak of the pandemic and accordingly various relaxations have been given to the players across the sectors, he added.

According to the RFP on the ministry's website, the objective of engaging a consultancy is to develop and implement an action plan to mitigate the impact of slowdown induced by COVID pandemic.

The selected firm will be responsible to identify the challenges arising out of the global pandemic and its impact on the supply chain and cost of raw materials, availability and cost of labours, domestic and international demand, supply of finished iron & steel, and logistics.

The action plan is to be developed and implemented within a time-frame of 12 months from the date of signing the contract.

COVID-19 outbreak in India, followed by the lockdown, has impacted the domestic steel industry severely. It has affected demand, output of steel players and the supply chain.

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First Published:Jun 20, 2020 5:54 PM IST