Proposing a probe into alleged steel dumping of products from China "is not fair", as steel production in India does not meet demand there and protectionism is not a solution, a Chinese national consulting firm said on Wednesday.

A government body in India has reportedly issued notices to China, Japan and South Korea, suggesting the launch of an investigation into "dumping" of some steel products into India, an unidentified source at the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties (DGAD), under the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, was quoted as saying by Reuters on Tuesday (UK time).

The targeted products are hot-rolled coils of alloy and non-alloy steel, the source said.

Chinese steel manufacturers produce quality products at reasonable prices, Li Xinchuang, president of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Those products have won a bigger market share," he said.

The institute is affiliated with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, China's cabinet.

Indian steelmakers Steel Authority of India, JSW Steel, and Essar Steel approached the DGAD looking for anti-dumping duties on cheap imports flooding local markets as well as pressuring margins, said Reuters.

The number of anti-dumping disputes in the steel sector has been rising sharply since the year 2016 began, said Wang Guoqing, research director at the Beijing Lange Steel Information Research Center.

"As Chinese steel firms have advantages in costs and large-scale production, the high volume of exported steel products may arouse confrontations overseas," she told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Wang noted that while the steel industry has been under downward pressure, some Chinese firms strived to gain profits through increasing their export volumes.

Meanwhile, some steel firms overseas have already shut down factories amid adverse market conditions, such as Tata Steel Group, she said. 

Tata Steel, an Indian multinational steel company, said on March 30 that the company was set to sell off its British business for several reasons, including a global oversupply of steel and continued weakness in domestic demand for the product, according to the company's website.

India set a floor price for imports of steel products in February to deter countries such as China from undercutting local mills, the first time it has taken such a step in over 15 years, media reports said.