New Delhi, June 25 -- Over 100 MSME players in the stainless steel sector have written to the steel ministry seeking reinstatement of the quality control order (QCO) that mandated the use of BIS-certified items for various stainless steel products.

The ministry had suspended the order on April 27 to ease the compliance burden on domestic producers, particularly MSMEs, and facilitate raw material sourcing for local manufacturing.

In a letter to the ministry, industry bodies - the Stainless Steel Induction Furnace Association and the Stainless Steel Re-Rollers Association - said, "The suspension of QCO has opened the door for a surge of low-priced imports from China, placing domestic MSME manufacturers under severe pressure and threatenin...