Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Andhra Pradesh organized a Conference on Sustainability in Steel Sector with a theme focusing on "Sustainable Business Strategies –Shape the "New Normal" through virtual platform.

Mr R Karikal Valaven,IAS, Special Chief Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh appreciated CII for organizing Steel Conference focusing on sustainability. Referring to the second phase of unlock he said that industry is supported with all measures to re-start their operations. He urged the industry to follow all required COVID-19 protocols to ensure safety of their employees.

He said that Government of Andhra Pradesh is setting up of Steel Plant at Kadapa in public sector under joint venture mode. In this regard, Government has already issued Expression of Interest for setting up of steel plant. He mentioned that several leading steel companies in steel sector have shown interest to associate with Government for setting up new steel plant.

Mr R Karikal Valaven stated that Government is coming up with one-stop shop solution for investors to provide required services to invest in the state.

Mr Pradosh Kumar Rath, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd in his address said that health and safety of employees is important in view of COVID-19.In the present disruptive scenario the technologies such as internet of things attains importance in running the steel plants. He was optimistic that steel industry is limping back to normalcy with recovery in the economy.

Mr Seshagiri Rao M V S, Chairman, CII National Steel Committee & Joint Managing Director & Group CFO, JSW Steel Ltd in his theme address stated that COVID-19 has brought the life and livelihood as a center of discussion in the present context. He mentioned that COVID-19 has transformed the business operations and created demand destruction with supply chain disruption across the globe.

Speaking about the sustainability, the steel manufacturers are following environmental and social sustainability. Infact, some of the Indian companies are leading the way in following the measures for environmental sustainability. Referring to reviving demand for steel he said that impact of COVID-19 will soon be a matter of past and would have great prospects for steel industry.

D Ramakrishna, Chairman, CII Andhra Pradesh & Managing Director, Efftronics Systems Pvt Ltd in his welcome remarks said that COVID-19 has posed challenges to business. He felt that revival in steel sector would lead to faster recovery in the economy.

Mr J Srinivasa Raju, Chairman, CII Visakhapatnam Zone & Managing Director, Geomarine Dynamics India Pvt Ltd delivered concluding remarks at the Session.