It is time the Government take steps to create an atmosphere conducive to investment. Policies have to be created to ensure a reasonable return on investment, Executive Vice-Chairman Essar Steel Firdoz Vandrevala said.
Delivering the keynote address at the International Conference on Mineral Processing Technology – 2014, organised by the Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers in association with Andhra University College of Engineering (Autonomous), here on Thursday, he said India is in a far from advantageous position in the global competitive environment.
“India compares poorly with peers like Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. India suffers from some critical drawbacks like a lack of an enabling infrastructure, poor perception in terms of ease of doing business and a lack of proven ability to compete at a global scale,” he said. At the same time India’s long-term prospects remain intact with its core strength of human resource, a strong base of entrepreneurs and a robust and growing domestic demand, he added.
While there is over capacity globally in steel industry, there is an opportunity and need for India to create new capacity so that the dream of Make in India becomes a reality. He called for policy reforms to boost Indian steel industry. Mining industry has to focus on ‘inter-generation equity’ and take a sustainable path of growth to ensure that the future generations enjoy the fruits of today’s investment. There is also a need to look at recycling of material, president Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers and Director Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology B.K. Mishra said in his presidential address. AU V-C G.S.N. Raju, who was the chief guest, spoke on the importance of control on emissions and sustainable growth of the mining industry. Chairman MPT-2014 and principal AUCE Ch.V. Ramachandra Murthy, former director RRL Bhopal T.C. Rao and other delegates from across the world participated .
