A. PROFILE OF THE JOINT PLANT COMMITTEE (JPC)
Functioning under the Ministry of Steel, Government of India since its inception in 1964, Joint Plant Committee (JPC), an ISO:9001-2015 organization, is the official databank on the Indian iron and steel industry, and is the only agency in the country, designated as the "Primary Agency" by the Ministry of Steel, Government of India for collection of iron and steel data under the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008.
JPC is headquartered at New Delhi with regional offices in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, with extension offices in Raipur and Bhubaneswar engaged in data collection and industry liaison.
JPC is headed by Joint Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Steel as its Chairman and has representatives from leading steel producers in the country along with representatives from
Govt of India, steel producing associations and private sector.
The core data related activities of JPC are detailed below.
1. Database maintenance: The present-day JPC database coverage includes the following items of data:
|
Data item |
Coverage |
|
Capacity, Production, Stocks |
Crude steel, finished steel, pig iron, sponge iron, pellets covering 2500-plus units with a pan-India coverage on monthly basis |
|
Imports, Exports |
Finished steel, pig iron, sponge iron, scrap, pellets |
|
Prices |
Retail market (fortnightly) rom four metro cities and select steel clusters, Landed Cost |
|
Consumption |
Iron and steel; derived data |
|
Despatch |
Iron and steel; State/UT-wise |
|
Raw material |
Iron ore, coal: production, export, import Production data: Ferro–alloy, Refractory, Dolomite, Manganese ore |
|
Accident data |
Leading steel plants |
Segment-specific field surveys form a major database maintenance-cum-upgradation activity which benefits both the entrepreneurs in strategy formulation, policy making by the government and in research and marketing areas. Surveys are conducted on key segments like iron ore pellet, sponge iron, blast furnace, induction furnace amonG others.
2. Dissemination of Information: A range of data reports and publications represent the basic avenues of information dissemination along with analytical support which is provided to Ministry of Steel and other stakeholders. JPC Reports and publications are available on a subscription basis. Publications are the major sources of dissemination besides website and social media accounts and are detailed as below:
Publications: A range of publications and data reports, on monthly and annual basis ensure the spread of information and data to all stakeholders of industry. Leading JPC Publications include:
● JPC Bulletin on Iron & Steel (English, Hindi): provides a monthly trend scenario of the Indian steel industry in a global perspective
● Monthly Report: Provides a detailed statistical presentation of the current status of Indian steel industry
● Trade Report: a detailed insight into the trends of India’s export and import of steel
● Performance Review-Iron & Steel: Encapsulates an exhaustive account of the developments in different aspects of the Indian iron and steel industry in the fiscal gone by
● Annual Statistics: provides a statistical profile of five-year’s database on different areas of Indian steel industry
● Survey Reports: include reports of various surveys conducted by JPC
● Millennial Decades: JPC has released a pocket-book highlighting a snapshot of the domestic iron and steel industry’s performance trends since de-regulation in broad areas (production, capacity, export, import, consumption)
● Iron and Steel Database: A first of its kind publication, JPC has published a directory of iron and steel units existing in the country, State/UT-wise, district-wise, segment-wise.
B )USES OF JPC DATA
Apart from the regular use by researchers/academicians, marketing/business strategies of entrepreneurs, financial analysis by the FIs and banks or even the fresher interested to know about the Indian steel industry, the core key uses of the JPC database include:
● Formulation of economic parameters : IIP, WPI, Eight Infrastructure Index, GDP
● Data support to Ministry of Steel and other arms of the Government of India to aid policy examinations including preparing Vision Documents, Policy Papers, updating reports etc.
● Data support to industry and its stakeholders for their strategy formulation and trend analysis
● Establishing Global ranking of Indian Steel : Based on JPC data, World Steel Association publishes its annual ranking of countries (including India) in terms of crude steel production, sponge iron production and apparent steel use.
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