The Centre has eased steel imports by reducing compliance requirements.

A statement from the steel ministry said a new facility to register steel imports, called "SARAL Steel Import Monitoring System" (SARAL SIMS), has been introduced, which will help ease imports by small enterprises. Steel imports under the advance authorisation route for export purposes will also be fast-tracked, it said.

According to the statement, the government has removed the need for a no-objection certificate (NOC) for importing steel grades that are not covered under the quality control order (QCO). The ministry said it has "decided that steel grades not covered by any QCO will no longer require clarification or NOC from the ministry of steel". For grades covered by QCOs, importers need to ensure that manufacturers have a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) licence to make such grades. The ministry has also extended the QCO exemption by five months for certain steel products and by three months for stainless-steel products. Also eased is the registration process under SARAL SIMS, with the number of fields required to be filled by importers reduced to 20 from 56.

Importers will also be issued a single SIMS number, under which they can import up to 100 consignments a year, with each capped at 10 tonnes.

The ceiling for imports of consignments in this fiscal has been set at 500 tonnes.

Source: The Economic Times 

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