The government said it will soon decide on whether to roll back export duty on steel products.
"We have submitted a 13-point charter of demands of the industry to the Prime Minister's Office and finance ministry.
One of the demands is that export duty should be rolled back in view of industry promising to hold the price line. A decision will be taken soon," Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters.
The industry has also promised to restrict export at the existing level and the government is monitoring the situation closely, the minister said, adding that "we are satisfied with the industry's action."
He, however, said that decision on export duty has to be taken by the finance ministry as it involves financial implications. Steel and Finance Secretaries are discussing the issue.
The government had recently imposed up to 15 per cent export duty on various steel products in order to increase domestic availability -- a decision that was criticised by the industry.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said that steel prices were contributing over 21 per cent to the overall inflation.
Paswan said the government has no problem as long as price increases by steel producers was proportionate to hike in input costs.
"It is a matter of satisfaction that steel makers have reduced prices on their own despite surge in global markets. We are monitoring the situation and will take appropriate decision soon," Steel Secretary R S Pandey said.
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