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The Ministry of Steel has called for an ‘open house’ to discuss issues facing the Indian steel industry, especially surrounding the dumping of cheap steel by global companies, which is hurting domestic players. 

In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said companies and associations may present their issues in the open house that’s scheduled for October 27 in the national capital.

The development comes at a time when domestic players have been complaining about cheap imports affecting their competitiveness, and the Reserve Bank India (RBI) also noting in its October Bulletin that steel imports have seen a surge, largely driven by lower import prices. 

The apex bank called for policy support to boost the competitiveness of domestic steel production, saying in an article, titled, Under Siege: Understanding the Impact of Dumping on India: “The dumping of cheap steel from global producers may pose a risk to the domestic steel production, which can be mitigated through suitable policy measures. The recent initiative to impose the safeguard duty provides insulation against the import dumping.” 

 

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India imports steel products to supplement its consumption demand. The country’s iron and steel imports expanded by 10.7 per cent in the first half of 2024-25, but recorded a contraction in the second half of 2024-25, mainly due to safeguard duties.

The government has already imposed a 12 per cent safeguard duty on imports of certain steel products in the country for three years, on recommendations of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), under the commerce and industry ministry.

As per official data, India’s imports of finished steel rose to 0.67 million tonnes (MT) in August 2025, compared with 0.45 MT in July 2025.

In April-August period of FY26, the country has been a net importer of steel with inbound shipments exceeding exports by 0.28 MT. 

Shares of major countries like China, Taiwan and Germany fell in India’s steel imports in August 2025, as compared to those of August 2024. In the case of Korea, Japan, Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Italy, the share has increased.