MSTC to sell steel products on e-platform under 'Digital India' initiative

Kolkata: The steel ministry and state-run MSTC have jointly launched an e-platform for sale of finished and semi-finished steel products.

The portal, 'MSTC Metal Mandi', is aimed at improving the marketing potential of medium and small-scale steel producers.Steel product buyers across the country can make purchases on the portal and use e-payment or letter of credit for payment.

"We hope to bring the market closer, especially to small and medium producers and to potential buyers through this initiative," MSTC chairman SK Tripathi told ET.

"We have the technical expertise to do so and we hope to extend it in future to platforms based on mobile phones."

The project has been initiated under the government's 'Digital India' and 'Make in India' programmes.

Stakeholder meetings have already been conducted in Ranchi, Raipur and New Delhi. The project is being touted as the first just in time marketing initiative in the country and is proposed to provide competition against imported steel products which have been flooding the market.

Additionally , to provide impetus to the government's initiative for ecofriendly activities, MSTC is setting up an auto shredding plant to take care of the growing vehicle population and end-of life vehicles (ELV).

This is slated to eliminate shortfall in availability of good quality , auto-grade scrap and produce high-quality shredded scrap for making steel. MSTC's shredding plant will be the first of its kind in the country . The joint venture is coming up as a public-private partnership (PPP) between MSTC and Mahindra Intertrade .

A leading standalone e-commerce player, MSTC is a service provider to various central and state government departments and other entities and ensures transparent and fair sale and purchase decisions.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.