Steel & Core Industries

Steel demand rises with everything a growing country builds — roads, railways, housing, cars and machinery. India's crude steel production climbed from about 87 million tonnes in 2014 to roughly 149 million tonnes in 2024, and in 2018 India overtook Japan to become the world's second-largest producer. Capacity reached about 200 MT, with a target of 300 MT by 2030 under the National Steel Policy.

India shifted from being a net steel importer in 2014-15 to a net exporter in most recent years. The private sector now accounts for over 80% of output, mega-plants expanded across Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, and a PLI scheme for specialty steel aims to cut high-end imports. The sector directly employs around 25 lakh people.

India is the world's second-largest steel producer, made by a mix of big integrated mills (Tata Steel, JSW, SAIL) that run blast furnaces on iron ore and coking coal, and thousands of smaller electric-furnace units. Because India has abundant iron ore but imports most of its coking coal, that import bill is a structural weakness — and the reason for a big push toward scrap-based and hydrogen-based 'green steel'.

The National Steel Policy targets 300 million tonnes of capacity by 2030-31 (from about 200 MT today) and aims to more than double per-capita steel use (~100 kg) toward the world average. The twin goals ahead are green steel — cutting the sector's heavy carbon footprint — and cutting coking-coal import dependence from about 85% toward 65%, while shielding mills from cheap Chinese imports.

The next frontier is greener steel — cutting reliance on imported coking coal, strengthening iron-ore and scrap supply, and lifting per-capita steel use (~108 kg) toward the world average.

~87 → ~149 MT crude steel (2014→2024). 2nd-largest producer (since 2018). ~200 MT capacity; 300 MT target by 2030. ~25 lakh jobs. Sources: Ministry of Steel, World Steel Association.