India's Core Industries
India's Steel Industry
How India became the world's second-largest steel producer, who the major players are, and the plans to double capacity by 2030.
Steel is used in buildings, bridges, railways, cars, appliances and machinery. India is the world’s second-largest steel producer, after China.
The players
- Public sector: SAIL (Steel Authority of India), with plants such as Bhilai and Bokaro, and RINL at Visakhapatnam.
- Private sector: Tata Steel, JSW Steel, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India and Jindal Steel.
- Many smaller secondary producers using electric furnaces and scrap.
How steel is made
- Integrated plants use iron ore and coking coal in blast furnaces.
- Direct reduced iron (DRI) plants, common in India, use coal or gas.
- Electric arc furnaces melt scrap steel.
India has abundant iron ore but imports most of its coking coal, especially from Australia.
Growth plans
The National Steel Policy, 2017 targeted 300 million tonnes of capacity by 2030-31, roughly doubling capacity. Demand is driven by infrastructure, housing and manufacturing.
Consumption
India’s steel use per person is still far below the world average, leaving room for growth as the country builds infrastructure and cities.
Challenges
- Coking coal imports and price swings.
- Carbon emissions: steel is among the most carbon-intensive industries.
- Cheap imports, especially from China.
A highway project needs thousands of tonnes of steel. Orders flow to a steel plant in Odisha, which buys iron ore locally and imports coking coal from Australia, employing thousands of workers.
India has plenty of iron ore but imports most of its coking coal.
- India is the world's second-largest steel producer.
- SAIL, Tata Steel, JSW and AM/NS are major players.
- India imports most coking coal despite abundant iron ore.
- The 2017 policy targets 300 million tonnes of capacity by 2030-31.
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