More steps in offing to battle Price Rise:

New Delhi: The cabinet committee on prices (CCP) will meet early next week to take a decision on fresh steps that the government is contemplating to tame the price demon. The steps being considered include raising export tax on iron ore, slashing customs duty on steel and zinc imports to zero, banning all steel exports, bolstering supplies through higher imports and putting oilseeds futures on hold as demanded by the Left. “We have recommended a ban on export of finished steel products,” Union steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan said here today. The ministry has also asked the CCP to cut excise duty on the alloy to 8 per cent from 14 per cent, do away with import duty as well as the countervailing duty on steel products, besides imposing a 15 per cent duty on export of iron ore. Paswan also warned that steel might be brought under the essential commodities act if producers failed to reduce prices even after the introduction of these measures. According to Paswan, domestic steel makers tend to focus on exports to cash in on the global rise in price of the commodity. The minister, however, hoped that he would not have to take any drastic step. “We hope the industry will act responsibly,” Paswan said. The finance ministry has also sent a detailed note to the CCP listing options to contain inflation, which has touched a three-year high and is posing a major political challenge to the government. The CCP is likely to meet on Tuesday. Drug policy: The group of ministers on pharmaceuticals will meet on May 3 to consider the views of various ministries on the new drug policy. Senior officials said the department of chemicals and fertilisers as well as the other ministries were in talks with representatives of the pharmaceutical industry and might come up with new proposals. Paswan said the draft policy would give due regard to the need to make medicines affordable for the poor even as it provided the industry ample opportunities to grow.