To boost demand and take the country to a $5 trillion economy goal, the government has now set the focus on increasing steel production to 160 million tonnes. This would mean adding further 18 million tonnes to the present level through a competitive, efficient, environment-friendly ways adhering to global safety and quality standards, said a statement by the Ministry of Steel. It also said that the government has committed investments worth Rs 100 lakh crore in infrastructure sectors, including several steel-intensive sectors like Housing for All, 100% electrification, piped water for all, etc, where the steel usage can be increased with the intention of ‘Make in Steel’.
Along with the goal, the government has also prepared a roadmap of its five-year vision to boost the steel industry. The roadmap includes increasing the steel usage to boost demand generation, adding greenfield projects to boost capacity, setting-up value addition focussed steel clusters, increasing raw material production, promoting research and development, etc. Improving the trade balance in the steel sector is also on the government’s priority.
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The ministry has also prioritised these initiatives due to its potential to improve the ease of doing business and generate new jobs. While the crude steel capacity in the country has increased to 142 MTPA, the demand for finished steel has consistently grown at 6.4 per cent over the past five years reaching 99 MTPA in FY19.
Meanwhile, the consistent growth in production has pushed India to remain a strong player in the global steel industry. India was the second-largest crude steel producer with a 6.1 per cent share in global production. Even the per capita consumption of finished steel in India has been on a rise from 60.8 kg in FY15 to 74.1 kg in FY19.
Source: Financial Express
