The steel ministry will soon move the Cabinet to finalise the new national steel policy that seeks to more than double the capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030. The ministry also expects steel demand to continue to grow this year given the stress on the infrastructure sector, Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said here.

“We will soon seek the Cabinet nod for the new steel policy that envisages 300 mt steel capacity by 2030 from the current 126 mt. The target may look a little far off, but if we can channelise our energies in the right direction, this is very much achievable,” Singh said on the sidelines of Ficci- Steel Expo.

The new steel policy seeks to increase focus on expansion of the MSME sector, improve raw material availability, enhance R&D, reduce imports and manage production cost, and thus develop a technologically advanced and globally competitive industry that promotes economic growth.

“Our vision is to transform the country into a global steel leader, both as steel producer and steel consuming nation,” the minister said.

It can be noted that Budget 2018 has earmarked Rs 4 trillion investment in the infrastructure space, which is likely to push steel demand.

The domestic crude steel production grew by 8.5 per cent at 97.38 mt in fiscal 2017, while consumption grew from 81.5 mt to 83.9 mt. Export of finished steel rose 102.1 per cent to 8.244 mt while imports fell 36 per cent to 7.4 mt during the year.

“We need to increase steel production by 10 per cent, exports by 103 per cent and massively reduce imports this year,” Singh said.

Source: Financial Express