Joint Plant Committee

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JOINT PLANT COMMITTEE – 50 YEARS OF REMARKABLE EVOLUTION  

Joint Plant Committee (JPC) is the only institution in the country, officially empowered by the Ministry of Steel,  Government  of  India  to  collect  data  on  the  Indian  iron  and  steel  industry  and  over  the  last significant 50 years of its operation, it has embellished its position in the creation and maintenance of a complete and non-partisan databank on this industry.

Constituted in 1964 by the Government of India for  formulating guidelines for production, allocation, pricing  and  distribution  of  iron  and  steel  materials,  JPC  underwent  a  major  transformation  in  1992,when following the de-regulation of Indian steel industry, it moulded itself into a facilitator for industry, focusing  on  giving  form  to  a  comprehensive  and  non-partisan databank  –  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the country – on the Indian iron and steel industry.

Its vast experience in different fields of data related work and accumulated knowledge on  industry  –structure,  operation,  dynamics  –  has  helped reap rich  dividends  with  the  result  that  today,  the  JPC database is a much sought-after source of authentic and reliable information on Indian steel industry, used  extensively  in  the  formulation  of  key economic  parameters  like  the  WPI,  IIP,  GDP  of  the Government of India, among others.

JPC  is  headquartered  at  Kolkata  with regional  offices in  New  Delhi,  Kolkata,  Mumbai  and  Chennai, engaged in data collection and industry liaison  and the year 2014 saw the milestone development of the opening of its extension centre in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, in a bid to consolidate and further shar pen the accuracy of its data and data collection system at the regional level. T he Economic Research Unit (ERU) at New Delhi serves as a wing of JPC to carry out techno-economic studies and policy analysis. JPC is headed by Joint Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Steel as its Chairman and has representatives from SAIL, RINL, Tata Steel and Railway Board as its esteemed Members.

A Look at the Database 

The database includes a rich repertoire of significant data elements and includes:

  • Capacity data of all steel producing units
  • Production data of iron and steel
  • Stock data of all steel producing units - category-wise/month-wise
  • Domestic Indicative Market Prices of major categories of iron and steel
  • Import data of pig iron, sponge iron, finished steel, scrap
  • Export data of pig iron, sponge iron, finished steel, scrap
  • Consumption data features in the database as a derived item
  • FOB, CIF Prices & landed cost of select steel items
  • Production, export, import data of raw materials for steel – iron ore, coal & coke, refractory,
  • Reserves, production, prices of raw materials for steel – iron ore, coal & coke
  • Item-wise, state-wise despatch of finished steel
  • Accidents in steel plants

Managing and Maintaining the Database

A  slew  of  activities  performed  round  the  year  by  the Regional  Offices  of  JPC  in sync  with  the  JPC Headquarters at Kolkata ensure that the database remains updated and of use to all stakeholders. The range of activities includes:

  • Liaison with  units  on  a regular  basis  is  a  continuous activity  pursued  by  JPC  in  order  to  collect production data and maintain the database – a tremendous task, considering the innumerable units in the small and medium scale sectors, in segments like induction furnace, re -rolling mills, sponge iron and cold rolling. The interaction is also necessary to update the state-wise listing of units in the various segments and document the changes therein.
  • Regular  interaction  is  also  undertaken  with  dealers  and  producers  for  market   prices  and  with custom  authorities  for  export  and  import  data  –  the  former  on  a  daily  basis  and  the  latter  on  a monthly basis.
  • Segment-specific surveys  form a major database maintenance activity. Undertaken annually, they not only help update the population frame but also aid policy decisions at the government level. As on date, JPC has to its credit, records of completion of surveys on key segments line sponge iron, blast  furnace,  induction  furnace/electric  arc  furnace,  re-rolling,  refractory. Reports  of  all  the completed survey are available at JPC for sale. The survey on the Indian Iron Ore Pellet  Industry –the first benchmark, official work on this sector  - was completed by JPC last year. At the same time, a  fresh  survey  on  the  Indian  Induction  Furnace  Industry  –  undertaken  to  re-assess  industry
  • situation,  post-slowdown  –  was  also  completed.  Both  the  survey  activities  featured  in  the  RFD 2014-15 program of the Ministry of Steel and was complied by JPC well within due time.
  • Review of data and data reporting (receipt status, reporting formats) are periodically done by JPC. In a move much appreciated by industry and its wide ranging clientele, JPC had  earlier  resolved long-standing data problems of under-reporting and double counting. Further work on this  areas continued  during  the  year,  with  inclusion  of  reporting  on  category-wise  double  counting  for example. Substantial work, in tune with industry requirements, was also taken up towards mapping of  major  items  of  production  of  iron  and  steel  in  the  domestic  market  with  corresponding International Tariff Code (ITC) items so as to enable a sync with international reporting practice.
  • Policy  on  Segment  Surveys  and  Market  Studies:  Field-surveys  are  one  of  the  most  important methods for regular and extensive updation of the JPC database. Similarly, under the aegis of and with the approval of the Ministry of Steel, JPC conducts studies on market segments to understand the trends and  dynamics of the domestic steel industry. However, both the structure and modes of operations of the Indian iron and steel industry are changing fast, due primarily to the expansion process currently under-way and secondly, due to the impact of the market fluctuations which is increasingly  getting  reflected  in  closures/downsizing  of  operations/mergers/acquisitions.  Such changes in a vast and heterogeneous industry like steel, makes it important that JPC re-looks at the entire way the field-level market/segment surveys and market studies are currently undertaken by JPC –  from selection of segments to frequency of operation. Accordingly, during 2014, JPC had drafted a policy on segment surveys and market studies to be undertaken  by it  during the period, 2014-15  to  2018-19  in  order  to  lend  an  element  of  structure  and  method  in  conducting  such exercises and act as a roadmap for future activities. The said Policy was examined and approved by the Ministry of Steel, making it one of the major milestone developments in the evolution of the organization during the year. 

Dissemination of Information 

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  Performance  Report:  Provides  an  overall  statistical  presentation  of  the  current  status  of Indian steel industry
  • Monthly MIS Report:  Provides a detailed statistical presentation of the current status of Indian steel industry
  • JPC Booklet on Steel Industry Performance:  meant to be a ready reference cum handbook on the annual performance of Indian steel industry
  • 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  viz.  ferro-alloy  refractory,induction furnace, sponge iron, pig iron etc


Studies:  Conducted under the aegis of the Ministry of Steel, Government of India, JPC from time to time, has  undertaken  studies in emerging markets/segments to understand the pattern and nature of growth as also the prospects for the same in association with industry.  2014 saw the release of the much-awaited study report,  ‘Assessment of Steel Demand in Rural India’, which had brought out,  for the first-time ever, insight into the pattern and level of steel consumption in the modern day Indian rural market.  Currently, a  Study on end-use-wise assessment of domestic steel consumption  –  geared to find out how much steel is consumed and is likely to be consumed in a particular segment, has been taken up by JPC and includes an  end-use-wise assessment of domestic steel consumption  but also projected demand, end-use/category/grade/size-wise. 

Support Service

In  its  role  as  a  facilitator,  JPC  extends  myriad  support  services  with  the  objective  to  provide  varied support to steel industry / Ministry of Steel on different issues related to development of industry like the Steel Consumers’ Council meetings of Ministry of Steel, the  ‘Steel Pavilion’ of Ministry of Steel in the annually-held ‘India International Trade Fair’ (IITF), New Delhi among others.

Towards Newer Horizons …… 

Rich in information and expertise gained over the last eventful 50 years of its operation and association with  the  Indian  steel  industry,  JPC  is  currently  contemplating  further  extension  of  its  database, developing new reports  /  formats of reporting and  upgrade its website to offer instant access to more new features and aspects, thereby offering value-added services to different stakeholders of industry, as it awaits policy directions towards    greater empowerment and greater offering in terms of data and information to all.