Joint Plant Committee (JPC)

Joint Plant Committee
(Central Govt. Organization)
Public Sector Undertakings in India
Industry Steel
Founded 1964
Headquarters Kolkata, India
Key people
Shri Sunil Barthwal, Jt.Secretary, Ministry of Steel & Chairman, JPC
Website http://www.jpcindiansteel.nic.in/

The Joint Plant Committee (JPC) is the only institution in India, which is officially recognised databank on Indian Iron and Steel Industry - Disseminates Exhaustive, Reliable and Non-Partisan databank and information to all.

Post decontrol and liberalization, the initial functions(planning, programming and determination of regulatory production guidelines on iron and steel, including pricing and distribution) of the JPC have been discontinued and JPC is now primarily entrusted with the task of collection, compiling, analysis and dissemination of data related to steel sector. The JPC also worked on measures aimed at promoting usage/consumption of steel through promotional work conducting studies, surveys, organizing seminars, conferences and sector specific studies. The JPC also acts as the Secretariat for the Steel Development Fund. The entire establishment expenditure of the JPC and the support to the other Institutions such as BPNSI, NISST, and INSDAG is met from the interest proceeds of the funds available under JPC Account General Fund. The funds under the JPC Account General Fund are kept as fixed deposit with the nationalized banks.

Evolution of JPC

JPC was constituted this year, following the recommendations of Dr. K.N Raj Committee under Clause 17B of the Iron & Steel Control Order, 1956 of the Essential Commodities Act,1955 with the objective of planning, programming and determination of regulatory production guidelines on iron and steel, including pricing and distribution.

Vide Notification S.O. 1567/ECS.COMM/IRON &STEEL dated 7 April 1971, the Government specified in detail the composition of the Committee as well as its various functions, thereby empowering JPC with precise directions to undertake its activities.

Vide Notification No. SC/1/6/91/D.III dated 16 January 1992 and following the economic order of the day, Indian steel industry was de-controlled, a milestone development that led to far-reaching changes in operational practices and overall spread of industry. In this changed scenario, JPC moulded itself to be a facilitator for the Indian steel industry, focusing on the maintenance of a comprehensive, non-partisan data base on the industry – a first-time attempt to statistically enumerate industry growth.

Vide Notification No. 13(30)/2001-DI in May 2003, the Office of DCI&S, engaged primarily in data collection work for the small and medium scale sector, was closed down. This led to the entrustment of the responsibility of collection and reporting of data on all segments in the small and medium scale sectors to JPC(who was focusing on main producer till then).

Vide notification No 26(1)/2004-ECR&E (Vol. III) dated 12 February 2007, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (Department of Consumer Affairs) announced the deletion of steel from the Essential Commodities Act and Such deletion wavered the very policy foundation of the organization.

Notification No. 4(5)/03-DI. dated 18 August 2008 issued by the Ministry of Steel pronounced the need for continuance of JPC in its present form, in context of its critical database :

    "…the Central Government has decided that the said Joint Plant Committee shall continue to function in its present form along with its present composition and functions…"

Backed by over 4 decades of specialized experience in data management, today JPC is the only organization in the country, officially authorized by Ministry of Steel, Government of India to collect and report on data on the Indian iron and steel industry.The JPC Database has emerged as the most trusted, comprehensive and non-partisan source of data and information on the Indian steel industry. JPC is also an ISO 9001:2008 organization indicating the quality of service rendered.
Headquarter of JPC is in KOLKATA with regional offices in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, engaged in data collection and industry liaison. In 2014, JPC opened its extension centre in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, in a bid to consolidate and further sharpen the accuracy of its data and data collection system at the regional level. Two more Extension Offices are to be opened, one in Raipur and the other in Bangalore as approved in the 225th meeting of the JPC Apex Committee held on 11 March 2014.
The Economic Research Unit (ERU) at New Delhi serves as a wing of JPC, mainly responsible for analysis of data collected by the JPC and for conducting specific studies/analysis entrusted to it by the Ministry of Steel.The ERU is headed by Chief Economist.

Structure and Composition of JPC

[5] 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.

  1. Shri T. K. Sahu, ED (M & ITD), Steel Authority of India Limited
  2. Shri Alok Sahay, ED(Commercial), Steel Authority of India Limited
  3. Shri Binod Kumar, Director (Commercial), Steel Authority of India Limited
  4. To be nominated.., Steel Authority of India Limited
  5. Shri Ashok Kumar, Director/RS (I&S), Railway Board
  6. Shri Chanakya Choudhary, Group Director- Corporate Communication & Regulatory Affairs, Tata Steel Limited
  7. Dr. S.N. Rao, GM (Mktg) -Home Sales, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited

JPC Database and its Management

Category Includes
Integrated Steel Producer(ISP) SAIL plants, Vizag Steel/ RINL, Tata Steel Ltd, Essar Steel, JSW Steel, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.
Mini & Others Producers Other EAFs, All IFs, All Processors
Data Item Coverage
Capacity, Production, Stocks & Inter Plant Transfer(IPT) ISP, Mini & Others

Crude Steel, Finished Steel, Pig iron & Sponge Iron

Imports and Exports Finished Steel, Pig iron, Sponge Iron & Scrap
Prices Open market, Producer prices, international and landed cost(selected items)
Consumption Iron and Steel; Derived Data
Despatch Iron and Steel; State wise
Raw Material Iron ore, Pellet, Sinter, coal/coke, ferro-alloy, refractory, dolomite etc.
Accident in steel plants Leading producers(ISPs)
Data Source of Data
Capacity, Production, Stocks & Inter Plant Transfer(IPT submission of production returns by units, on monthly basis, covering :

North : 1004 units East : 885 units South : 649 units West : 1030 units

Imports, Exports Daily download from FTP Server of Customs
Open market prices Prices of 34 items – 1st and 15th of month
Producer prices Monthly, from ISP plants
International prices Monthly, compiled from Steel First
Issue Resolution
Validation Production vis-a-vis Capacity/average production Minor discrepancy confirmed over phone / mail Nil returns confirmed for closure Input – output reconciliation
Non-Reporting Either partial (estimation on basis of average production) or total (estimation on basis of state-wise capacity utilization)
Under-Reporting mostly by small/medium units Estimation on basis of higher capacity utilization Neutralises any under reporting to a great extent
Double Counting Doubly counted production of CR, GP/GC & pipes deducted from total production of steel

JPC Publications

JPC Report Highlights Frequency
JPC Bulletin on Iron and Steel Monthly trend scenario of domestic market in a global context. Published in both English and Hindi. Monthly
Performance Review Year-end performance review Annual
Annual Statistics Statistical compilation of 5-Yearly Performance Annual
Survey Reports Findings of segment surveys made by JPC On completion of field survey
JPC Report Publication Date
Flash Report 5th of every month
Inductive Market Price 5th/20th of every month
Import/Export statistics 10th of reference month
MIS Report 20th of every month
Performance Report 30th of every month
World Steel Association Report 22nd of every month

References

  1. Economic liberalisation in India. Wikipedia.org Retrieved 30 Oct 2015
  2. Closure of DCI&S office: Ministry action sans grace. The Hindu. 26 June 2003. Retrieved 30 Oct 2015.
  3. The Essential Commodities Act, 1955. EC Act,1955 Retrieved 30 Oct 2015.
  4. JPC Today. jpcindiansteel.nic.in Retrieved 30 Oct 2015
  5. Members of JPC. jpcindiansteel.nic.in Retrieved 30 Oct 2015
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