Steel ministry calls for greater collaboration with Australia

4th sept

Union Steel Minister Birender Singh has invited Australian government and businesses to be a part of the growth and development opportunities available in India.

He stated that the New India provided ample scope for strengthening bilateral relations through investments, technology transfer and knowledge sharing.

He was speaking at Udyog Bhawan on Monday (28 August) where he was called on by an Australian delegation led by Assistant Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Australia Keith Pitt.

The meeting was attended by Deputy High Commissioner to India Chris Elstoft, Secretary, Steel Dr Aruna Sharma and other senior officials from Australia and India.

Birender Singh shared details of National Steel Policy 2017 and other initiatives being implemented by Indian government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The minister also highlighted areas of concern for India steel industry like wide fluctuations in prices of coking coal imported from Australia and disadvantage to Indian steel exporters due to concessional tariffs for other countries.

Keith Pitt remarked that Australia is also keen on widening the scope of relations from natural resources to technology sharing and knowledge exchange. Australian investors are excited to witness growth and potential of business in India, he added.

Pitt said that Australia would be happy to help in sharing its expertise in extracting resources efficiently.

Both sides agreed to take the discussions further for working on areas of mutual interest and finding avenues for collaboration and cooperation.

Source-businessworld