The centre expects India’s steel demand to grow by 8% in 2024 and 2025. An official statement said this will be driven by continued growth in infrastructure development.
“India has emerged as the strongest driver of steel demand growth since 2021, and our projections suggest Indian steel demand will continue to charge ahead with 8% growth in its steel demand over 2024 and 2025,” an official statement said while adding that this is on the back of continued growth in all steel using sectors and especially infrastructure investments.
According to official estimates, crude steel production reached 36.61 million tonnes (MT), finished steel production clocked 35.77 MT, and finished steel consumption hit 35.42 MT during the first quarter of financial year 2024-25. Total steel production during the first quarter of the current fiscal stood at 72.4 MT, up from 68.5 MT in the comparable months of the previous year.
Per capita consumption of steel in the country has also risen from 59 kg in 2013-14 to 119 kg in 2022-23. Finished steel demand of the country touched 138.83 MT in 2023-24. It stood at 123.20 MT in fiscal 2022-23
In 2023, India produced 140.2 million tonnes of steel, positioning itself as the world’s second-largest steel producer. India’s annual domestic steel making capacity is expected to reach 300 Million Metric Tonnes (MT) of crude steel capacity by 2030 and 500 MT by 2047. Analysts say this consumption will be driven by government expenditure and increasing urbanisation.
The centre has launched a Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) Policy and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Specialty Steel to support the sector.
