Domestic consumption of steel to increase in infrastructure sector: Steel Ministry

24 Apr 2017

The union steel ministry is betting big on an increase in domestic consumption of steel led by planned investments of nearly Rs 4 lakh crore in infrastructure sector.

While steel consumption increased by nearly 3 per cent, in 2016-17, the steel minister urged the industry to ensure that the rate of growth goes up to 4 per cent in the current year 2017-18.

With Rs 4 lakh crore of investments planned in infrastructure sector, there is a huge opportunity for increasing consumption, Chaudhary Birender Singh said. He was speaking at India Steel 2017 International Conference and Exhibition in Mumbai on Wednesday. World Steel Association has projected Indian steel demand to grow by 5.7 per cent in 2017. While globally steel demand has been projected to grow by 0.5 per cent in 2017. So demand in India will grow at 10 times the world levels in 2017, he added. The minister said the draft National Steel Policy, which is scheduled to be released, soon, will give concrete shape to the vision and plans for the steel industry.

“For increasing consumption of steel, we have also conceptualized the idea of Indian-made steel. The Draft Cabinet Note has been finalized. The proposal, as you know, is to make it mandatory to use Indian-made steel in key projects,” the minister added.

Singh said the steel ministry is far ahead of other Ministries in implementing quality standards. Around 75 per cent of steel products are already covered under quality norms. He also drew attention to three areas of key importance like raw material for steel making, demand generation for steel and Research & Development in steel sector. One of the major constraints that Indian steel industry faces is raw material availability and prices.

Source: Economic Times