Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) has received approval from the Ministry of Steel to import 5,000 tonnes of steel products for the Kolkata metro rail project.

In 2017 the central authority initiated a policy preferring domestically-manufactured iron and steel products (DMI&SP) over imports for any project of a public sector company.

The standing committee under the DMI&SP Policy headed by Additional Steel Secretary Rasika Chaube permitted RVNL to import 5,000 tonnes of 1,080 Head Hardened rails for its 64 km metro corridor project in Kolkata in its meeting on May 4.

As per the meeting minutes, the Standing Committee recorded the fact that the project was of strategic importance for which exemption for 6,700 tonnes had been awarded in 2019.

RVNL had started a proposal to procure 11,800 tonnes of the rails in December 2018.

The ministry granted it an exception to procure 6,700 tonnes in October 2019.

RVNL is executing the project collectively with Kolkata Metro Railway.

Since Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) does not produce these rails the revised demand for the remaining 5,000 tonnes cannot be met by domestic suppliers while RVNL has already set a development order with Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) as per the minutes of the meeting.

It has been in the process of manufacturing the rails but the foreign experts included with the commissioning of its Head Hardened facility at Universal Rail Mill of Bhilai Steel plant left the country in April due to the second wave of Covid-19 said SAIL.

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