The Steel Ministry has extended the policy for preferential procurement of locally manufactured steel products by six months. A notification said validity of the Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) policy is being extended beyond the earlier deadline of May 29, 2024. Under the DMI&SP policy, the Centre gives preference to locally manufactured iron and steel products in procurement tenders floated by public sector undertakings.
This policy mandates providing preference to products with 15%-50% value addition in procurement orders. This policy is applicable to supply of iron and steel products having aggregated estimate value of INR 5 lakh or higher. It also has provisions for waivers to all such procurements, where specific grades of steel are not manufactured in the country, or quantities as per demand of the project cannot be met through domestic sources.
The centre had initially notified this policy in May 2017. It was revised in 2020, extending to cover all Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) for which procurement is made by States and Local Bodies. Further, procurement under any project or scheme which is fully or partly funded by the centre also needs to follow the local sourcing preference mandate.
