The Steel Ministry is tightening quality controls on steel imports from countries including Japan, South Korea, and China following a surge in non-BIS-certified applications and growing concerns over irregularities in product quality.
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The Steel Ministry has been apprised of irregularities in quality in steel shipments coming in from select markets, including Japan and South Korea, apart from China. At a recent Ministry-level meeting, a report flagged a sharp increase in applications for bringing in non-BIS-certified steel. Incidentally, rejections at the Ministry-level have also gone up, with one in every four applications being turned down.
Many intermediaries were making minor changes in declarations to bypass quality norms. These were mostly not true, it was found.
The ₹4,000-crore non-BIS steel import business (as per industry estimates) is now under detailed review, with the Ministry set to tighten scrutiny on incoming consignments and approvals, including sourcing country norms (from where the steel is sourced).
“….higher imports were registered from Japan and Korea which are not devoid of quality concerns,” it was mentioned during a review meeting, a Ministry official said.
Committee Findings
Meeting participants pointed out “minor” variations in chemical composition or product measurements, to categorise offerings as a new segment, thereby seeking permission for “cheaper or substandard” metal imports.
“It was also observed that imports were being carried out with minor alteration in steel grades to bypass BIS standard requirements,” an observation by the technical committee noted.
In FY24, there were 23,301 applications (for import of non-BIS steel), of which 18,120 were cleared. The rejection rate stood at 22 per cent, with 5,181 applications being rejected. On the other hand, the applications shot up to 15,645 in the first six months of FY25, when the influx from China and imports hit, steel prices were cheaper than prices in the domestic market, nearly 34 per cent up on an annual basis, with there being 11,805 clearances. This meant, there were 25 per cent rejections (or 3,840 applications were shot down), indicating there was heightened vigilance on such shipments.
Larger steel players in India had raised objections to such cheaper imports skewing domestic market dynamics, post which quality control and traceability norms were upped on imports.
In the country, steel intermediaries or importers apply on the SIMS portal seeking import permission for non-BIS grades, where all details like chemical properties, type and other information are provided. Applications are required to be submitted for six months’ intended quantity, post which a call is taken.
Relaxation
However, the Ministry, had earlier this month, relaxed Quality Control in part.
Relaxations were on the condition that if the steel products are loaded/shipped on or before July 15, 2025, intermediaries need not follow norms on sourcing of steel. This was done as a temporary relief to MSMEs for pre-placed orders.
The BIS has outlined 151 standards covering 1,376 steel grades under the Steel Ministry’s Quality Control Orders (QCO).
Typically, in India, once a steel standard is formulated by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and incorporated, adherence has to be made to these norms. In case formulation of new standards and incorporation into QCO has not yet been done, import has to be done by obtaining NoC from the Ministry of Steel.
Published on July 14, 2025
