NEW DELHI --India plans to start an antidumping investigation into imports of stainless cold-rolled flat steel products and hot-rolled steel products from China and other countries, Jitin Prasada, the junior steel minister, told Parliament Friday.

Other officials and analysts said separately that a sharp recent decline in imports could complicate any antidumping suit, and the recent imposition of an import tax is already protecting the domestic market from lower-priced Chinese imports.

However, the minister said in his written response to a query from Parliament that local steel prices are generally lower than international prices, so the government would investigate whether imports coming in below domestic prices were being dumped.

India imported 4.06 million metric tons of steel during the April-November period this year, down from 4.75 million tons in the same period last year, of which imports from China fell to 1.09 million tons from 1.33 million tons a year earlier, Prasada said.

Steel demand growth has contracted sharply in recent months, slowing to 1.1% on year in the April-November period from 10.2% on year in the April-August period, in line with the global trends of slower economic growth and tighter credit conditions.

As demand from major consumers of steel in the automobile, real estate and construction sectors withered, local steel manufacturers cut production or advanced maintenance schedules.

Complaining that cheap steel imports are hurting domestic companies, local steel makers have also filed requests with the federal government to impose antidumping taxes on steel imports.

However, there are critics who feel it will be difficult to prove imports have hurt the local steel companies.

"As imports have come down, I don't think the Indian companies have a very strong case," a senior official at the federal Ministry of Steel said. "It will be difficult to prove".

Earlier in the year, the Indian federal government cut duties on local steel and curbed exports to increase supplies in the domestic market.

However, analysts said the government's move last month to levy a 5% tax on imported steel is likely to be the most effective shield for the domestic market.

"The duty supported prices, otherwise the landed cost of imported steel would have been far cheaper," said Pawan Burde, senior analyst at Mumbai-based Angel Broking. "This move will definitely help support local prices."

An analyst at a New Dehli-based brokerage said recently that the price of hot-rolled coil in China is about $525/ton, which is below the domestic price, but the import price would be about the same or slightly more than that of domestic coil after the 5% tax.