The increase in number of items covered under the Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) from 250 items to 352 is expected to slow down imports and encourage consumers to source domestically .
The SIMS was introduced in November 2019 for 250 specified iron and steel items.
Under the SIMS, importers have to submit advance information through an online system and obtain an automatic registration number by paying a fee of ₹1 per thousand subjects to a minimum of ₹500 and maximum of ₹1 lakh on CIF value. The automatic registration number would be valid for 75 days.
Bhaskar Chatterjee, Secretary-General, Indian Steel Association, said the mandatory registration on imports will improve the quality of products being shipped in and will stop the dumping of defectives and seconds (reused) steel. The circumvention of duty can also be plugged as few items are now being…