The steel prices have decreased by 11 per cent in the last four months. The price of steel which was fifty thousand rupees per meteric tonne in May this year has come down to 44 thousand rupees per meteric tonn in the first week of October. Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma attributed the decrease in price to the decline in the cost of raw material. He was talking to reporters in New Delhi on Monday after reviewing quarterly performance of Public sector company- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, RINL, Vishakhapattanam. The Minister called upon RINL to evolve innovative marketing strategies to perform better and intensify its marketing efforts in rural areas.

The Minister said quality control regulations has been implemented in the steel sector and now every steel producing company will have to follow standardization norms given by the Bureau of Indian Standards.