The Indian metal packaging association, Metal Container Manufacturers’ Association, has issued a stark warning over the future of jobs in India, if the country’s Ministry of Steel pursues its Steel and Steel products quality control order, which mandates BIS Certification on the major input required by the industry like tinplate and tin-free steel.

The association says this order has resulted in suppliers stopping shipping tinplate to India, resulting in a huge shortage of the product. In a grave assessment MCMA noted on social media that “This will result in many companies shutting down and will leave many people jobless”.

So far the association has asked the Ministry of Steel to do the following:

• MCMA requested the Ministry of Steel to postpone the BIS norms implementation till 31March 2022 as the industry is already reeling under the pressure due to the pandemic enforced lockdown across the country and further virus threat .
  
  
• MCMA further requested the ministry of steel to implement ISO certification instead of BIS norms for sourcing raw materials.
  
  
• MCMA has also recommended that the Government should seriously consider setting up a development fund to provide soft loans to the industry in order to develop domestic capability for producing such products in the country.

Commenting, chairman Sanjay Bhatia, said: “Unfortunately the unjustified price increase by the local producers will result in serious problems for our industry in terms of loss of business to alternative packaging material and the increasing requirement of working capital.

“May I ask all members/stakeholders to join hands and face this challenging time together.”