The minister also said Japan and South Korea were keen to invest in Indias steel sector and their officials have already met with him."Goutam Chakraborty, analyst at Emkay Global Financial Services in Mumbai, said Indian companies typically produce commodity-grade steel with lower returns and are less efficient than foreign companies producing high-end steel.The company recently signed a technical agreement with South Korean steel maker POSCO, which Singh hopes will help raise output.Lenders now want the government to help the steel sector with roofing screw more steps to expedite the recovery of their loans, including by asking state companies such as SAIL to buy some sick private steel assets or manage their operations. (to) narrow down the cost of production and sale price.

The government has imposed various duties and quality controls on imports over the past two years to stop the inflow of cheap steel from countries such as China, the worlds biggest producer burdened with a massive oversupply."In my view (protectionist measures) should not be there even for a month, but I have to see the overall position of the industry," minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said in his office.Singh said loss-making SAIL or fellow state steel maker RINL were not in a position to buy any assets of private companies struggling to repay loans, but they could help with "expertise" or people."Ive made it very clear to the industry that on one hand, we are giving this much of protection but on the other hand, I want a roadmap where you can improve upon your efficiency.

Bad debtsIndias steel sector still accounts for 28 per cent of banks stressed loans, Singh said, but the government measures have helped local companies including JSW Steel, Jindal Steel and Power, Tata Steel and state-run SAIL to raise prices and improve margins."The government expects Indias steel-making capacity to rise over a third to around 160 million tonnes by mid-2018, for which SAIL will need to speed up its capacity increase that Singh said had not been satisfactory.

When banks advanced loans to these companies, they never consulted me. (But the) responsibility (of sorting the bad loans) now rests with the steel ministry."Its very strange.New Delhi: Indias debt-laden steel industry should not take the governments protectionist measures for granted and need to raise their efficiency to compete with foreign companies, the countrys steel minister told Reuters in an interview on Friday.