Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC) has offered to buy steel directly from JSW Steel in Ballari district and sell them to medium and small scale industries at the same price at which it was bought.

Corporation's new managing director V Ram Prasath Manohar, in an interaction with industry body Kassia, has suggested this as an option in view of the steep hike in steel prices due to its shortage. This, Kassia members said, has severely hurt many medium, small and micro industries even as they are struggling to wriggle out of the Covid-19 crisis.

Manohar has asked Kassia to gather the requirement of steel in terms of quantity and specification from the industrial units and submit it to his corporation. This will prevent a demand-supply mismatch and also help negotiate a competitive price from the steel-producing companies.

The KSSIDC will set up godowns in districts for storing the steel. Three godowns will be established in Peenya to enable easy lifting of the raw material by the MSMEs which are present in large numbers in the Peenya Industrial Area, Manohar said.