New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Ministry of Steel on Thursday said it has introduced a new â??SARAL SIMSâ?? process to make registration easier for small importers and export-linked imports.

In an effort to simplify the process of compulsory registration under the Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) for imports of small consignments pertaining to iron and steel items by MSMEs and other small importers as well as imports made under Advance Authorisation, SEZ and EOU route for export purposes, a new facility of registration process â??SARAL SIMSâ?? has been introduced, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Steel.

"Importers can now access the facility of SARAL SIMS at www.sims.steel.gov.in/SARAL. While generating SARAL SIMS registration, the importers have to declare only the total intended quantity of import in the portal. They will be issued a SARAL SIMS number, against which they can import any number of steel consignments for the year without requirement of consignment wise SIMS number," the statement explained.

The importer can avail the facility of SARAL SIMS for import of small consignments (less than or equal to 10 MT) subject to an annual cap of 1,000 MT (â??SARAL SIMS for small importâ??), or import under Advance Authorization/SEZ/EOU route (â??SARAL SIMS for export purposesâ??) without any quantity threshold.

According to the new norms which will come into effect from November 21, importers will be required to file annual returns by furnishing the details of actual import made against SARAL SIMS registrations generated in a particular financial year by 30th April of the next financial year.

Importers can make imports against the SARAL SIMS registration generated in a particular financial year up to April 30 of the next financial year.

If the importers exceed the threshold of 1,000 MT of actual imports under SARAL SIMS in a financial year, they will be required to generate regular SIMS registration for subsequent imports during the financial year. However, once they migrate to regular SIMS, they will not be able to use SARAL SIMS facility for that financial year, the statement said.

For the current financial year 2025-26, the threshold for SARAL SIMS for small imports is 500 MT for a period up to April 2026. From the next financial year 2026-27, annual cap of 1,000 MT will apply.

The registration process under the regular SIMS has also been significantly simplified by reducing the number of fields to be furnished by importers from 56 to 20. These changes are aimed at simplifying the registration process for importers and enhancing the ease of doing business.

"Further the requirement of clarification/NOC from the Ministry of Steel for Non QCO covered grades is also being revoked. Hence importers will be able to generate SIMS numbers from the SIMS portal for Non QCO covered steel grades without any requirement of clarification/NOC from the Ministry of Steel," the statement added.

/IANS