As a part of the on-boarding process,
the Ministry held talks with steel mills, DPIIT and the QCI
The Steel Ministry, which has been looking at a ‘Made-in-India’
branding for steel produced domestically and exported overseas, is planning to
roll out the pilot project with two companies – PSU major SAIL and the
country’s largest stainless steel maker Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL).
The pilot could see a roll-out towards end-January or around
February, those aware of the developments said.
While logos and some other details are yet to be finalised, the
pilot run will see operationalisation of the IT platform for generation of QR
code that will be affixed on steel products.
Parameters
Some 13-odd parameters (out of 45) will find mention in the QR
code. Offerings will have both the ‘Made-in-India’ and company’s logo.
Components of the QR code include name of the product, six-digit
HSN code (used for international benchmarking), grade of the steel (mention of
physical properties), dimensions, weight in tonnes, SKUs and batch IDs, mill
criteria (rule of determining origin), address of the place where it is manufactured,
among others.
Criteria for determining origin of products will be either ‘melted and poured’
or local value addition greater than / equal to 50 per cent.
“Initially, ‘Made-in-India’ branding will be started with pilot
roll-out for few selected products of SAIL & Jindal Stainless. In all
likelihood by the end of next month or February,” the official said, adding
that on November 17 a letter was sent to the Quality Council of India (QCI)
informing them about the selection of two companies and coordinating “on the
agreed format ...on a pilot basis for early roll out”.
The QCI is reportedly undertaking consultations for creating an IT
platform for generation of QR code. The Made-in-India logo will be used in both
export and domestic market offerings.
“Once the necessary improvements are made in the platform for
seamless operation, the roll out of the ‘Made-in-India’ branding for steel
shall be started on wide scale with all the integrated steel producers,” the
official told businessline.