Expressing concern over the unabted rise in inflation caused partially by spiraling steel prices, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has asked the steel industry not to manipulate the market for short-term gains.

Speaking at Tata Steel's centenary celebrations in Jamshedpur yesterday, the prime minister said, "I would advise our steel industry to take a long-term view and not fall prey to the temptation of seeking windfall gains from market manipulation in a period of excess demand."

With inflation at a three-year high of around 7 per cent, the government has in the past weeks been expressing concern over the rising steel and has threatened a ban on futures trading in steel and bringing it back under teh Essential Commodities Act.

He emphasised that Indian economy would continue to grow and the demand for steel will continue to grow. "Industry and trade must eschew short-term gains that hurt consumers and disrupt the stability of the process of economic growth," he reiterated.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh releasing a commemorative postage stamp at the Centenary Celebrations of Tata Steel Limited, at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand on April 22, 2008. The Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology, Shri Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia is also seen.

"Stable growth, with reasonable prices can, in fact, widen and deepen the market for industrial products and in turn benefit business," Singh added. In the present context where industrial prices were on the rise, he said there was an opportunity for corporate leaders to deploy corporate power in the best interests of society.

Lauding the successive forward looking visionaries at the helm of the company, Dr Singh said that Tata Steel has been a leader in steel making and "I am sure that for Tata Steel the best is yet to come." Appreciating the achievements of Tata Steel, the world's cheapest steel maker, in the last 100 years, he said steel was a symbol of progress in the past century. (See: Dr Manmohan Singh's address at the Tata centenary celebrations at Jamshedpur)

Earlier ion the day, the Prime Minister laid the foundation for the modernisation and expansion of Steel Authority of India's Bokaro Steel plant in which the public sector SAIL is investing Rs 11,000 crore on expansion.

Steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who was also present said that the Indian steel industry was growing at 10 per cent while consumption had grown by 13 per cent, necessitating incresing steel production in the country for which SAIL has drawn up a Rs54,000 crore expansion across all steel plants operated by it in the country to ramp up production from 14 million tonnes at present to26 MT by 2010.

Paswan urged Jharkand chief minister Madhu Koda to intervene to resolve speedily the the Chiria mines dispute for SAIL to lay foundation stone of its proposed 12-million tonne steel plant in Jharkhand during the UPA regime. SAIL will receive one million tonnes of iron ore from Chiria.He said that SAIL had emerged from difficult times and would carry on its expansion and merger proposals.