Steel Ministry takes initiatives to support competitive, environment friendly steel industry

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Steel will play a crucial role in India’s rise to a $5 trillion economy. The Government’s vision to achieve a $5 trillion economy by 2024 entails 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.

Steel has several inherent advantages of durability, faster completion time, reduced environmental impact, and creation of a circular economy.Keeping in mind the importance and relevance of steel in building a $5 trillion economy, the Ministry of Steel has defined its Vision to shape and drive the Indian steel sector.

To ensure the Vision incorporates India’s growth imperatives and addresses the aspirations of all stakeholders of the Indian steel ecosystem, the Ministry thoroughly studied relevant policy documents and held many stakeholder consultations. National Steel Policy (NSP) 2017: Finalised by the Ministry of Steel and notified on May 8,2017, the NSP laid down key imperatives to ensure that the Indian steel sector is prepared to service the growing requirements of modern India and to promote a healthy sustainable growth for the sector.

Tthe Ministry of Steel has laid out a comprehensive vision to  meet the anticipated demand of 160 million tons of steel for becoming a $5 trillion economy, through a competitive, efficient, environment friendly steel industry, adhering to global safety and quality standards.

The 5-year vision for the Ministry of Steel defines key imperatives for the sector across 5 broad areas including consumption, trade, capacity – Make in India, efficiency improvement,and workforce welfare.

Framework policy on creation of steel clusters – Aimed at encouraging the MSMEs in the steel sector, this would boost production of value-added products, drive import substitution and help create additional employment in the steel sector.A draft policy for the same has been prepared and uploaded online for stakeholder consultation. A cabinet note is being prepared and the policy shall be notified post cabinet approval.

Steel scrap policy – To ensure adequate availability of scrap for steel manufacturers which will reduce imports and improve competitiveness of Indian steel sector. Steel Scrap policy was notified on November 7, 2019, with roles and responsibilities for players (aggregators, processing centres) and government bodies (E.g. MoEFCC, CPCB) defined.

From a capacity of ~1MT at the time of independence, India’s crude steel capacity has risen to ~142 MT at present and India has become the world’s second largest producer of steel (~111 MT crude steel production in 2018), according to a PIB release. The steel industry in India is well established and has shown a steady growth. The demand for finished steel has consistently grown at 6.4% over the past 5 years reaching ~99 MTPA in 2018-19. In accordance with the rising demand, the crude steel capacity in the country has also increased to 142 MTPA.