Steel PSUs Steel Authority of India Ltd and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd have spent a total of Rs 1,017.25 crore on research and development (R&D) activity in last three financial years, Parliament was informed Monday.

R&D is an ongoing activity and steel companies in both private and public sectors are conducting research in iron and steel sector, Minister of Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

Providing the details of steel PSUs, he said the R&D expenditure of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) between financial year 2015-16 to fiscal 2017-18 stood at Rs 951.93 crore.

Giving further details he said, the R&D expenditure of SAIL for 2015-16 was at Rs 277 crore, for 2016-17 (Rs 339.43 crore) and 2017-18 (Rs 335.50 crore).

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) spent Rs 65.32 crore on R&D activity during the said period, the minister said adding Rs 21.74 crore was spent in 2015-16, Rs 23.52 crore in 2016-17 and Rs 20.06 crore in 2017-18.

The minister had earlier said that adoption of advanced technology can help domestic steel industry become a leader in quality steel.

With this aim, the ministry has set up an industry driven institutional mechanism Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI) to facilitate joint collaborative research projects in the iron and steel sector in India.

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