New Delhi: Today ( December 19), Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that India has overtaken China as the world’s second-largest steel producer in the past eight years.
In response to a query regarding the effects on the steel business of India importing 25% of its steel production to the EU, Scindia stated, “India recently set a new record. In the last eight years, we have doubled our production capacity from 150 to 154 million tonnes, moving us up to the position of the second largest steel manufacturer in the world. We are acutely conscious of the issues surrounding the environment.”
He added, “This affects producers all across the world. A concise explanation of the policies we have in place to reduce CO2 emissions in the steel sector, including both supply-side and demand-side measures, is necessary because this is unquestionably the direction the world is heading. Steel has to follow that route of environmental protection.”
“We have connectivity from Amritsar and Chandigarh to almost seven countries from the Amritsar and Chandigarh airports,” he said in response to a question about why Amritsar and Chandigarh airports were not pushed during the signing of a bilateral air service agreement between India and Canada. These countries include Qatar, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Singapore, Sharjah, and Italy.
“We have 17 international air traffic movements each week, primarily to Singapore and Doha Kuala Lumpur. There are 42 domestic traffic movements when discussing domestic air traffic,” he continued.
The recent bilateral air service deal between India and Canada disappointed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Punjabi community in Canada.
No information about direct flight travel between Punjab and Canada has been released yet. The absence of flights from Canada to Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport Amritsar has alarmed the SGPC and the Punjabi diaspora.