The government may consider lowering import duty on steel to protect users, said Steel Minister Braja Kishore Tripathy.

However, the minister added that if the steel industry kept prices at international levels, the government will not lower the import duty.

Tripathy was in the city for national metallurgists' day (NMD) celebrations organised by the Indian Institute of Metals.

The government was not in position to give any directive on prices but it would protect interest of the users.

Commenting on the excise duty, he said there are anomalies in excise duty. In some cases the duty was on raw materials while there was also duty on finished product.

Earlier, Binoo Sen, steel secretary, said the import duty would be brought down in keeping with WTO norms. However, no timeframe was mentioned.

Tripathy said the Indian steel industry could be competitive in global market only if it was able to bring down cost of production and improve quality.

This can be achieved through technological upgradation, improved production, cost reduction and quality consciousness.

The minister admitted the need for special steel promotion and marketing efforts to promote and extend the use of steel.

Surgical instruments made of specialised stainless steel were not being developed in India owing to low consumption and high investment cost. He urged metallurgists to develop steel for surgical instruments.