Govt to devise new policy for steel sector: Tareen
By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD—Jahangir Khan Tareen, Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives has said that government would prioritize different elements while devising a new steel policy.
The new policy would give more importance to manufacturing and it would also encourage the use of indigenous iron ore.
He said while presiding a meeting with a steel delegation led by CEO Engineering Development Board (EDB) here Wednesday. The minister said that a steel research institute will also be established by public private partnership and skill development program in steel industry will be initiated with the help of HEC.
The minister made a comprehensive overview of how the Iron Ore reserve at Kalabagh can be extracted and the possible measures to set up steel mill there by private sector. The minister said the government would encourage and facilitate the private sector to initiate this project. In this regard he directed EDB to render its full support in order to make that project practical. There is a great deposit of iron ore in Kalabagh which is very easy to extract, he added.
The minister said that the government would also encourage the private sector to install Direct Reduction Iron ( DRI) plant in Karachi which will run on coal. DRI is a plant which can replace blast furnace in steel mills. It will cost about Rs. 1.5 billion.
The private sector demands two main facilities from the government. The minister said the government would consider all possibilities for facilitation and options related with DRI while devising new steel policy.