Reuters reported that Indian scrap importers will hold talks with the government this week to seek an easing of restrictions imposed in April over concerns about radioactive materials.
Mr Jayesh Botadra a trader from Steel's & Scrap based in Mumbai on the sidelines of a recycling conference in Dubai said more than 25,000 tonne of scrap metal are currently being held at Indian ports after the Ministry of Environment and Forests classified scrap metal as hazardous waste.
Mr Botadra said "After this notification was given from the ministry, both the importer and the exporter have to fill in form nine to indicate what type of metals are being imported which is very difficult to say about scrap because the metals are mixed. He said this was introduced to prevent radioactive contaminated scrap metal from entering India, but form 9 is really the problem."
Mr Botadra said "Form 9 is only applicable to scrap metal imports made after April 29th and therefore we are being very cautions on any imports we make right now because they will be stuck at the port."
Mr Deepak Baldi MD of India's Baldi Metals & Alloys said "If form nine is not removed, this could mean a lot of damage to the scrap metal business in India we hope that the government will realize the importance of this sector. We have around 100 tonne of scrap stuck in the ports and are waiting for the form to be removed so we can place more orders."
Source : Reuters