Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) is a licensing program effective since 1st November 2019 applicable for steel importers launched as a platform by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. As a part of Notification No. 17/2015-2020 Dated: 5th September, 2019, the Government introduced Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) by amending the import policy of iron and steel in ITC (HS) Chapter No 72, 73 and 86 from “Free” to “Free subject to compulsory registration under Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS)”
The main purpose of SIMS is accountability of the quantitative information about steel imports entering into the country. This information will then be utilised by the government for policy formulation and implementation regarding steel imports. This data on the steel licenses is then compiled, checked and published on the Ministry of Steel website once in seven days for the public to analyse.
SIMS not only helps in collection of the data regarding import of iron and steel products but also helps in analysis of the data thereby streamlining the process of policy making. In addition, it helps in getting real-time information that helps monitoring the imports into the country.