Awareness programme held for BIS authorisation in steel industry and steel products

Ludhiana, October 1, 2012: Steel, is playing a very important role particularly in infrastructure development and demands good quality and high performance steel grades for durable construction.

Safety of the steel structures is important and there is no scope for compromise on quality aspects of steel products.

Ministry of Steel alongwith Ministry of Consumer Affairs identified 17 steel products for BIS mandatory certification in Nov 2007. In response to representations from sections of industry which raised issues and constraints in production of quality steel 9 products were withdrawn and only 7 wire, wire products and galvanised sheets were covered under BIS certification in February, 2010.

From September, 2012, nine steel products are also covered in mandatory certification consisting of billets, structural steels, reinforcement bars, pressure vessel plate & electrical sheets etc. However in the 9 products which has been issued by MOS as a mandatory specification, minor exemptions have been provided for the next 6 months' period (upto 31st March'13) in respect of reinforcement Bar, Plates and Structurals in order to help the steel producers to prepare themselves to produce steel in conformity with BIS specifications.

Ministry of Steel has started nationwide Awareness Programme to educate both manufacturer and end users of steel on advantages of using good quality steel and cost of using bad quality steel. This will facilitate seamless implementation of BIS quality certification & Institute for Steel Development & Growth is associated with this mission. Accordingly the first awareness programme has been held at Golden Green Club, Khanna in Ludhiana today.

The Ministry of Steel is working towards ensuring that right quality of steel reaches the consumers, particularly in the rural areas since consumers in these areas are not aware of the pitfalls of inferior quality steel. The mandatory BIS certification will build confidence in the mind of the consumers since it is not possible for the consumers to test the steel before buying.

An awareness programme will also be launched by Institute of Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG). INSAG has been set up by the Government to promote steel consumption and it has been advised to initiate necessary steps in collaboration with steel producers for an effective awareness campaign. Concurrently, the Department of Consumer Affairs has decided to include the objective promoting steel quality in their regular programme of ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ through different media platforms.      

Steel is an important material for construction and hence, quality has to be maintained right from the steel making stage till the processing stage. In this whole chain of processes, control of chemistry in regard to carbon, sulphur and phosphorous and getting desired physical properties are essential. Domestic industry making steel through Basic Oxygen Furnaces and Electric Furnaces has to adjust their input materials and technology in order to meet specified Indian standards. It is the responsibility of the steel manufacturers as well as re-rollers to ensure that quality of steel does not pose a threat to safety of buildings and infrastructure.

 The government has embarked upon an ambitious programme of power generation during the 12th Five Year Plan. At the same time there is a pressing need to ensure that power distribution losses are kept at the minimum. In this regard, cold rolled grain oriented steel for distribution transformers plays a vital role since only quality grade steel can minimise distribution losses in power generation. Likewise, steel plates for pressure vessels need to be of proper quality to avoid any explosion of boilers. 

Control of chemistry and physical properties in the case of structural steel like bars, rods, angels, beams, channels, plates and sheets is essential. In steel, sulphur should be present only to the extent that improves its machinability while higher sulphur in carbon steel leads to lowering of its strength. Also, higher phosphorous in carbon steel makes it more brittle. Carbon level has also to be maintained as per the standard since higher carbon will increase hardness and make the steel difficult to deform into desired shape and difficult for welding.