SAIL, RINL spent over Rs 1,000 cr on R&D in last 3 financial yrs; adoption of technology key for quality steel: Steel minister

New Delhi: Steel public sector undertakings (PSUs) Steel Authority of India Ltd and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd have spent a total of Rs 1,017.25 crore on research and development (R&D) activity in last three financial years, Parliament was informed on Monday. R&D is an ongoing activity and steel companies in both private and public sectors are conducting research in iron and steel sector, Minister of Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. [caption id=“attachment_4299401” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Providing the details of steel PSUs, he said the R&D expenditure of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) between financial year 2015-16 to fiscal 2017-18 stood at Rs 951.93 crore. Giving further details he said, the R&D expenditure of SAIL for 2015-16 was at Rs 277 crore, for 2016-17 (Rs 339.43 crore) and 2017-18 (Rs 335.50 crore). Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) spent Rs 65.32 crore on R&D activity during the said period, the minister said adding Rs 21.74 crore was spent in 2015-16, Rs 23.52 crore in 2016-17 and Rs 20.06 crore in 2017-18. The minister had earlier said that adoption of advanced technology can help domestic steel industry become a leader in quality steel. With this aim, the ministry has set up an industry-driven institutional mechanism Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI) to facilitate joint collaborative research projects in the iron and steel sector in India.