Production schedules of vehicle manufacturers across the country are likely to be affected with the mandatory implementation of new BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certification requirements for high grade steel from March 15, 2016.
11 Jan 2016 | 4537 Views | By Shobha Mathur
Car buyers in India could be looking at longer waiting periods before they take delivery of their vehicle. Production schedules of vehicle manufacturers across the country are likely to be affected with the mandatory implementation of new BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certification requirements for high grade steel from March ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
Car buyers in India could be looking at longer waiting periods before they take delivery of their vehicle. Production schedules of vehicle manufacturers across the country are likely to be affected with the mandatory implementation of new BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certification requirements for high grade steel from March 15, 2016.
While the government has notified the requirements for specific grades of cold rolled (CR) steel which is used to make roof panels and body panels of cars, these are mostly imported from Japanese and Korean companies by vehicle manufacturers. Since these imports are of low volumes, until economies of scale are achieved in local manufacturing, this high grade steel cannot be made within the country.
Hence imports are expected to continue for the same but with the Centre mandating certification requirements for specific grades of imported steel, OEMs will have to get this raw material certified.
That, according to Sugato Sen, deputy director general of SIAM, takes time – approximately around 12 months. This means that many production lines at vehicle manufacturing plants are likely to be affected which in turn will translate into longer waiting periods for popular models.
Cold rolled imported steel constitutes about 3-4 percent of the total steel consumption of the automotive sector used in vehicle manufacturing. In addition, steel is used for manufacturing components with some alloy steel used in making parts also being imported. This too will see certification requirements that need to be adhered to and could also be affected.
Read more: 'Vehicle manufacturing quality in India improved over past 5 years'