India to become largest steel producer: steel ministry

India will become the world’s largest steel producer in the future, Indian steel minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said during a conference organised by NMDC and FICCI. Currently, the nation is the second-largest steel producer after China, Kallanish notes.

The minister also emphasised promoting domestically produced steel as a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). To promote domestic steel, the government has also introduced a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for speciality steel, which has an outlay of more than INR 6,000 crore ($751.70 million), Scindia added.

“In the last eight years, several reforms have taken place in the steel sector, due to which India’s production capacity has gone up from 102m tonnes in the fiscal year ended 31 March, 2014, to 154mt in the current fiscal,” Scindia said. “India’s per capita consumption of steel has increased from 57.8 kg in 2013-14 to 78 kg now. Our target policy and focus also have been to turn India from just another player in the steel sector to becoming a force to reckon with.”

Sayed Aameer India